Electric Feel
by L3ftOfCent3r
Summary: Life is riling when you're 17, have an ability that hates your girlfriend, live with 8 vampires, 2 half-breeds & you, Caleb Black, are an ordinary human. But it may be a good thing. You have the genes of mortal enemys. No telling what phasing will do.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Omen

"_What the hell is she doing in there,"_ I wondered as I glared through her bedroom doorway and down to the hall where the bathroom door was closed.

I stared hard at the closed door and clenched my fists in my pockets as I blew out a frustrated breath. I had considered busting open that door, several times, and then maybe grabbing her up in my arms and kissing her in some dramatically, lame-romantic-movie sort of way. I shook my head and closed my eyes tight, trying to erase that picture from my mind. I could almost hear Emmett's laughter booming inside my head as if he had just seen what I was thinking...or, more realistically, had been given a detailed description by Edward...

"Shit," I muttered under my breath as I clenched my pocketed-fists tighter. I had tried hard not to think about the possibility of my family being aware of what I was doing, but whenever I was left to my own devices for too long my imagination would start to wander. And with every extra second that she spent in that damn bathroom, this whole idea of skipping class to sneak-off to her house was sounding more and more like a bad one. But, my family finding out wasn't even the least of my worries. My girlfriends _dad_, on the other hand, was a whole other story.

I ground my teeth together as I turned my back to the doorway and moved towards the window that had a clear view of the driveway. I half-expected her dad to pull-up at any second, all guns blazing, and ready to dig a marked-grave that had my name on it. With that thought, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and I raised up a hand to rub it, ruffling my hair as I did. I shrugged my shoulders then and rolled my head, trying to relax, but all this waiting was starting to psych me out. It was probably the guilt of knowing I was doing something that I shouldn't. And, I swear I could feel someone's eyes on me, staring me down. I leaned in closer to the window and scanned the trees across the street. I imagined that it was probably her dad...hiding in those trees...watching me through the scope of a rifle. I looked down to see if there was a little red laser dot aimed at my heart...

"BOO!" A loud sound cut through my silence and I grabbed for my chest as if I had been shot, but there was no blood, no bullet hole.

Feeling my heart pound under my hand, a good sign that I was alive, I turned around to face the source of the sound. A brown-haired girl with an amused expression on her face stood in the doorway and the pounding of my heart slowed.

"Amy," I breathed and rubbed my face with my hands, "Shit. Do you think you could have possibly made a _quieter_ entrance?"

Amy closed the door behind her before tapping a finger to her chin and rolling her eyes up to the ceiling in contemplation.

"Sure," she said with a smile, and then quickly crossed the distance between us, "I could have done _this!_"

Before I had time to react, she attacked me with her fingers, poking them hard into my sides as she laughed. I jumped back, holding my hands out in front of me to block her, but the smile that had crept across my face only seemed to encourage her more. She came at me again with her hands, but this time I grabbed her wrist and spun her around until her back was pinned to my chest. She let out a playful scream and squirmed under my grasp as I wrapped my arms tight around her, crushing her to me.

"Air," she gasped breathlessly and I chuckled.

"If I let you go will you promise to keep your hands to yourself," I asked with a teasing grin.

She turned her head back and looked up at me through the corner of her eye. A dimple formed in her cheek as she smiled, and I studied her, waiting for an answer.

"I can't promise that," she said with a swallow and the action drew my eyes to her pale slender neck.

I instantly became transfixed on the spot just below her ear that was framed by a lock of her brown hair. I loosened my grip around her as I lowered my head to place a kiss on that delicate spot. The skin there felt soft and warm against my lips and the sweet smell of her shampoo added to the overall Amy-ambience that I was suddenly lost in. I found myself doing more than gently kissing her neck then. And Amy...giggled.

"Ok, ok," she said with amusement in her voice as she shrugged-up her shoulders to push me away, "Ease up on the fangs, Dracula."

My heart momentarily stopped at her words and I immediately dropped my arms from around her as I turned to face the window.

"_Dracula," _I repeated the word in my mind, _"fangs?"_

I shook my head and took a deep breathe. She had no idea how close to the mark she was. But, real vampires didn't have fangs and I wasn't a blood-drinker. I did know a few, though... Amy tapped her finger on my shoulder then and it distracted me from my blind-stare out the window.

"Are you watching for my dad," she asked in a bored tone.

I scowled out the window at the reminder of her _dad. _It really wasn't a surprise that he hated me. I was, afterall, keeping a huge secret from him and his daughter. I was, afterall, slightly more than just "human". Her dad had suspected enough to call my family "strange", but that was all. My brow furrowed as my eyes focused on the glass in front of me, seeing my own reflection in the window. Being suspicious of us at all was probably too much...

"Caleb," Amy said and I jumped at the sound of my own name, "I told you he's not coming. He's going to a stupid sports memorabilia auction as soon as he leaves work."

I ground my teeth together at the word "memorabilia" as it triggered the memory from the first time I had met her dad, and then inadvertently wrecked his _collection of baseball memorabilia. The large glass case he had kept his collection in, which had been like a great shrine to the sport of baseball, had easily shattered by barely being bumped into. Well, maybe it had been more than just a little bump, but it didn't matter! I hadn't been thinking about her dad until she mentioned him. I was thinking the same thoughts that had plagued my mind since I had first met Amy: How close can I get to a human who knows nothing about my shape-shifting, blood-drinking family?_

_I turned around to face her, but "I" was the only word I could say before she grabbed me by my shirt collar and pulled me down until my mouth was level with hers._ I hesitated for a moment as her lips moved against mine but as soon as the shock went away I shut my eyes and kissed her back. Her hands slid away from my collar then and down my chest until they found their way underneath my shirt. She pulled her lips from mine slightly and panted out a very audible, "Take your shirt off."

The concern of saving her from knowing about the existence of "monsters" and all that other right-and-wrong bullshit suddenly became lost on a thought-frequency that I was no longer tuned-in to. I quickly tugged the shirt off from over my head and let it drop to the floor. Amy reached out her hand then and slowly slid it up my bare chest, causing my muscles to quiver at her touch. And, before I had a chance to even consider an appropriate reaction to that, Amy pulled off her tank top…

I gulped involuntarily as I stared at that scant article of clothing that stood between my eyes and her bare breasts. The bra was strapless, with a single clasp at the front, and it was almost the exact same shade as her skin.Amy reached for my hand and balled-up my fingers into a fist with the exception of my index finger. My mind processed this and I realized what she intended to do with my hand. Just one flip of my finger and her bra would be on the floor! Suddenly, I went back to thinking that this was a bad idea. _Shit! Was_ I _really thinking that! I stared at the beautiful, half-naked girl in front of me. Did I really think THIS was a bad idea! I stared down at my hand, noting the contrast of my light-russet colored skin from hers, and it reminded me of our other differences. Yes. Definitely a bad idea. _I pulled my hand from her grasp and she looked up at me with a confused expression. _Did I really want to get this close to someone out-of-the-loop on the existence of mythical creatures? And, more importantly, would SHE want to be this close to me if she knew HOW much in-the-loop I was?_

"Amy," I said and hesitantly reached out to place my hand on her bare waist as I wondered, like I always did, if our relationship was a mistake.

But, the moment my hand touched her skin, a _shock_ went between us, and we both jerked away as a feeling _like _static electricity jolted our skin. But _I _knew better. It wasn't static electricity. There was no carpet and there was no cold inside of her well-insulated house to create a static charge. Besides, the shock didn't begin and end as we touched. The shock traveled back up my arm to my brain, filling my with a sense of doom. Ominousness. I shook off the unsettling feeling left by the shock and stared at Amy. She was laughing in response to our shared jolt as if that was all that it had been, but for me, the shock was a confirmation that _this_ was wrong.

All of a sudden she seemed like prohibited territory. She was forbidden fruit. Something inside of me put up the red flag and yelled: "Warning!" I had a powerful urge to listen to it, but, before I could act on it, Amy's hands moved to the band of my jeans and a second later I felt them slide down to my knees. She then wrapped her arms around my neck, crushing her body against me as her hot mouth opened to mine. The warning instantly took the backseat in my mind as I groaned at the overall sensation of her tongue in my mouth and her soft, plush breasts mashing against my chest. I placed a hand on Amy's hips and held her tight against me as my other hand traveled northward. Amy's kiss became more urgent as my hand cupped the swell of her breast, but before I got my fingers near the clasp of her bra…

"AAAMMY!"

We froze. Amy stared wide-eyed at me for a second, and then she frantically began to gather our discarded tops from her bedroom floor.

"It's my dad," she yelled in a whisper as she threw my shirt at me.

I caught it, but I was still in a daze from just having had her warm, barely clothed body against mine. She pulled her tank top back on and I just stared at her wistfully, suddenly hating clothes...

"CALEB," Amy whisper-yelled and I shook my head, trying to snap-out-of-it.

But before I had a chance to move, the bedroom door flew open and my t-shirt fell from my hand. My eyes grew wide as the door banged against the wall so hard that something clattered to the floor. A stocky figure appeared in the doorway, then. I stared at Amy's father, _who,_ not surprisingly, looked a lot more menacing today than he usually did.

There _he_ stood, in the doorway, with an aluminum bat in his hands, and there _I _stood, shirtless, with my pants down to my knees, and his daughter in close proximity. I could almost see the steam rushing out of his ears and nostrils as he looked me up and down with wild, angry eyes. I half-grimaced, half-smiled, but tried damn-hard to look innocent.

"Uh, hello Mr. Johnson," I greeted through a smile of gritted teeth.

His response wasn't really in word-form, but, as he lunged at me with a bat..._I_ got the message. Amy screamed as her father swung the bat at my head, but I managed to dodge the blow causing a porcelain lamp to take the hit for me instead.

"DADDY," Amy yelled as the lamp shattered to the floor.

The sound of his daughter's voice momentarily distracted him from me and I took the opportunity to run-for-it, leaving my shirt behind as he raised a scolding finger to her.

"Amy, you're grounded until the Mariners win the World Series," he grumbled and I nearly tripped over my fallen pants as I ran down the hallway, trying to pull them up.

With my pants zipped and buttoned, I dug my hand into my pocket for my car keys and then reached for the knob on the front door. But before I was even able to crack it open, the end of an aluminum bat appeared out of the corner of my eye and pressed against the door, holding it closed. Somewhere in the back of my mind I realized that I was lucky that his weapon of choice was a bat. If he had had a gun…I'd probably be dead. I let go of the knob then and slowly turned around to face the man wielding the bat. I looked down at him, and he glared up at me with searing eyes.

"I don't care that you're guardian is a respectable doctor and I don't care how smart that might make him seem. But, to me, he's just a bad guidance counselor who throws caution to the wind when it comes to teen pregnancy. It's disgusting the way he lets you kids shack-up under his own roof the way you do," he looked away for a moment and scowled at the mere thought, but then his eyes snapped back to me.

"STOP THINKING WITH YOUR DICK," I nearly choked on my own spit as he suddenly yelled in my face, "Look jack-ass, I have two daughters older than Amy. I know the difference between guys like _you _and the guys that they are actually _serious_ about. But, you're just another hormonally charged moron who wouldn't know the difference. Well," he paused as he tapped the bat firmly to my shoulder, "Listen up because I'm about to tell you how to differentiate. It's simple: the girlfriends that you have to work to get tend to last longer and be more worthwhile than the ones that come easy."

He stared at me for a moment as if he was waiting for some cue that he had gotten through to me or helped me come to some sort of revelation. But I didn't know what-in-the-hell he was talking about. And, I didn't really give a shit about his opinions or theories. I just wanted him to get his damn bat away from me. Mr. Johnson shook his head at me then and rolled his eyes as if he was giving-up on trying to explain anything to me.

"Kid, if I ever find you on my property again, you, and this bat," he said as he tapped the bat against my shoulder again, but harder this time, "will have an encounter that you will never forget. Got it?"

I got _that._ "Yes sir."

Mr. Johnson dropped his bat-wielding arm then and we stared at each for a moment as I waited for him to give me permission to leave. He took a step back.

"Get the hell out of my house."

No sooner did he say those words that I opened the door and flew out the second it was open. I jogged to the end of the driveway, where my car was waiting by the curb. It was sort of a miracle that my brain was functioning enough to get me there because I was pretty sure I was in some strange sort of shock from getting a life-lecture from my girlfriends dad. Without looking back at the house or up to the window where I imagined Amy was watching, I opened my car door and got behind the wheel. I cranked the engine as Mr. Johnson's voice rang in my head: _"the difference between guys like you and the guys that they are actually serious about"... _

My thoughts went back to the moment when I touched Amy's skin and felt a shock of electricity run through my veins. It must have been a _omen_. It wasn't some "spark" between us. It was just _intuition_; something telling me that her dad would _bust_ in on us and try to _bust _me open with a bat. _Right?_ I wanted to believe that anyway. I didn't want her dad's words to be true. I wanted her to be _serious_ about me. She was the one person in my life who wasn't super-strong and who could get cut and bleed just as easily as I could. But, I still didn't know how honest I could be with her. I glanced back at her house one last time as I pulled away from the curb and into the street. I looked to her window, hoping to see her as the car rolled forward, but then a horn blared! My attention immediately snapped back to the road and to the mini-van that was headed straight for me! I cut the wheel and took a sharp left turn, avoiding a head-on collision but not avoiding all damage...

My body jumped forward as I slammed on the brakes, and then I turned in the direction of the clanking sound that was suddenly coming from the right side of the car. The side mirror dangled there, clanking against the car as it still swung back and forth from the abrupt stop. I turned around in my seat then to see that the mini-van had stopped too. A thin red streak of paint was scratched along the side of the white van. I could hear the driver of the van trying to calm a kid down who was screaming as if their van had rolled over twice and then fell off a cliff. I looked back at the dangling side mirror and suddenly wished there was a cliff that I could drive off of... In all of it's 35 years, the red BMW had never so much as gotten a ding from someone else's car door, and now, thanks to me, a pretty significant part of it was dangling from the side of the car. I swallowed hard.

"Shit. Rosalie's going to kill me."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: No Such Thing as Privacy

The white three-story house loomed in front of me like one of those haunted mansions from an old black and white movie, leaving me with the same sort of eerie feeling. But, I didn't chicken out. I walked with determined steps towards the front door, gritting my teeth as I anticipated the worst, but I wouldn't turn around. I took a deep breath then, twisted the door knob and entered the house with a shove. The large room that the front door led into was empty and I immediately looked to the curving staircase that was on the right, wondering if anyone would stop me from going to my room. I could hear the TV on in the background, but I couldn't see anyone from where I stood so I moved towards the staircase.

But, before I took one more step, a white blur rocketed down from the top of the stairs and came-into-focus as the figure of a person. A tall lanky boy who didn't look any older than me took the last step off the staircase as he stared at me with a blank expression. This boy, despite all appearances, was actually my grandfather, but after being out with him in public enough times I had quickly learned not to call him that...and it stuck.

"Uh, hey Edward," I said and winced internally, knowing that he could hear my every thought.

"Hello Caleb," he greeted as a corner of his mouth curved up into a half-smile.

I averted my eyes to the other side of the room, feeling awkward under the pressure of his gaze as I wondered how much he knew...

"Everything," Edward answered as he crossed his arms over his chest.

I shut my eyes and ran a hand back through my hair, tugging at the ends as I processed that. Everything? It wasn't a surprise. It wasn't an unusual thing for Alice to have a vision and for Edward to see it. But, usually, in her visions of me, I was fully clothed and not headed for 2nd base with a girl. I looked up at Edward and saw his mouth twitch as he tried not to smile. _Shit! _Okay, so he does know everything.

"So, what now," I asked as I looked into his eyes, "Are you going to tell me to stay away from her?"

"No," he replied as if it was something strange for me to ask and then his face became very serious, "I'm going to tell you to never skip school again."

I blew out a breath in relief that that was his only terms, but I couldn't help but roll my eyes at Edward. It was so typical of him to be more concerned about my education than about my relationship with a human girl. I stared down at the floor and shook my head.

"Caleb, you're—mostly human," Edward said, "We all want you to have as many normal human experiences as possible."

Normal! My head shot-up at the word and it was just in time to see the second moving blur of the day fly down the staircase. I gave a dry laugh. "Normal" didn't exist. And I was even more certain of that as a thin girl materialized on the stairs. This thin girl with her dark brown hair was actually my grandmother, despite all appearances, and as I watched Edward take her hand to lead her on to the floor—I wondered how he could still think that "normal" was a good thing.

Edward spun around to look at me with his brow furrowed. Bella noticed and put a hand to his chest as if to stop him.

"Caleb, do you want me to block him from you," she asked me as if her mind shielding ability would actually help. I just laughed at her offer.

"Thanks Bells, but at this point...it's pointless," I said as I shifted my gaze down to hers and gave her a smile.

Bella smiled back and then started to pull Edward-by-the-hand away from the stairs.

"We will be gone for a little while. So you will at least have one less vampire in your business," Bella said as she pulled Edward towards the back of the house.

"One less" isn't nearly enough. I thought as I again became aware of the TV that was on in the background. I decided, in that moment, that it was better just to face them all and get it over with than to try to put it off. As I walked towards the sound I could hear the low snickers of someone trying to conceal their laughter. The snickering was coming from the living room and as I moved forward I could see three heads over the back of the couch.

Emmett, Nessie and Jacob were spread out on the black leather couch that sat adjacent to the flat screen television. There was nothing funny about the old action movie that was playing on the screen, but Emmett laughed as if there was. I rolled my eyes at him and then looked to the other end of the couch where Nessie sat next to Jacob.

"Hey, pup," Jacob greeted as he turned his head to see me, "Heard you got side-swiped today. Are you alright?"

I stared at him for a second and then shrugged my shoulders. I was too hung-up on one of the words he had just said to answer any questions. "Heard" was just another way of saying that Alice had told everyone everything. I gritted my teeth together.

"You know," Emmett began as he slung an arm over the back of the couch and looked up at me with a suspiciously serious expression, "It could have been prevented if you—"

"EMMETT," Nessie growled in warning.

"What," Emmett asked as he raised his hands in the air as if to surrender, "I was just going to say that it could have been prevented if you hadn't been...THINKING-WITH-YOUR-DICK!"

Emmett burst out into laughter then, but I didn't laugh. I didn't even laugh as Nessie pounded a fist into his shoulder. I was only thinking about one thing...

"Where's Alice," I asked through my teeth.

Jacob pointed a finger towards the kitchen and I stalked forward with angry steps. Alice was sitting on the counter top as I entered the kitchen and her hands held a plate that was full of pizza. I stopped walking and stared at her, remembering that I had just been _mad_ at her, and yet, all I felt was..._calm_. I looked then to Jasper, who was leaning against the counter next to her. I narrowed my eyes at him, but he just shrugged at my accusing gaze. _Damn-emotion-manipulating-vampire! _Alice held the plate of pizza out to me then and smiled as if it was peace offering. I stared at the plate for a moment, not wanting to take anything from her, but I also...couldn't resist the pizza.

"Thanks," I said without enthusiasm as I took the warm plate in my hands, "And_ thanks_ for telling everyone."

"Ca-leb," Alice chided as she slid off of the counter, "I _had_ to tell them! There was a very good chance that that man could have smashed your _head_ instead of that lamp."

I considered that for a moment, "True, but you didn't have to tell Emmett word-for-word what her dad said to me!"

"That wasn't me," Alice said proudly as if she was glad to deflect some of the blame from herself, "You know I only pick-up images—not sounds and certainly never anything word-for-word."

_Edward._ The name was a dark cloud that floated over my head and my eyes narrowed as I thought of him. Edward had obviously plucked the words from my head as I was driving home. My grip on the plate of pizza tightened.

"Oh, don't get so worked up about it," Alice said as she examined me, "We're a family. We shouldn't have to keep any secrets from each other."

I laughed a humorless laugh. _What a load of shit._

"It's more like we _CAN'T_ have secrets. Not with YOU and Edward and Jasper around."

Alice fisted her little hands and put them on her little hips as she frowned at me.

"You have an ability too, Caleb. The _jolt_. I saw it happen again. I think it may be similar to my visions. And, if it is...you should probably be wary of that girl."

I looked down at the floor, a little taken aback that the subject got turned on me so quickly and I shook my head. I had reached my intrusive-family limit for the day and I was _done!_

"Later," I said as I turned my back to them and walked out of the kitchen.

Everyone was silent then, and they allowed me to leave the down-stairs area without any further comments or laughter. I trudged up the staircase with the plate of pizza in my hand, feeling worn-out from having had to relive my day all over again through my family. I sighed once I reached the second floor and then turned down the hallway that led to my bedroom. Carlisle's office was up on the right and the light that shined through his door told me that his office was occupied. I groaned at the sight. This house had more booby traps than an ememy's mine field. The vampires were everywhere...

_Just once more. _I thought to myself as I walked in front of the open door of Carlisle's office and stopped. Esme was dusting the book shelves as Carlisle sat at his desk, studying something. I stood there and waited for them to stop pretending like they hadn't heard me coming from all the way down stairs.

"Hello, Caleb," Esme greeted me with a sweet smile and Carlisle looked up to see me.

"Hey," I replied quickly, and then looked at Carlisle, "Do you have anything you want to say to me because this pizza started getting cold two minutes ago."

Carlisle's expression fell as if he felt guilty for something and I half-felt like kicking myself for being the reason.

"No, no," Carlisle spoke with a smile, "We don't want to keep you from your meal, but just know that we are proud of you for how you handled the accident today."

It took me a moment to figure out which accident he was talking about; The entire day felt like one big accident. But, then I remembered how I had apologized to the people in the mini-van and exchanged insurance information with them. That had to be what he meant, even though, I didn't know what there was to be proud about. After all, it was my stupidity that caused me side-swipe the van in the first place.

"Thanks," I said with a nod and then walked away when they didn't say anything else.

Once I had finally made it inside my room, I leaned my back against the door and it closed with a "thud". The large floor-to-ceiling window that made up an entire wall in my room provided enough light that I didn't need to flip a switch and it was some how relaxing to see the trees. I looked down at my plate then and picked up a slice of pizza. But, before the pizza made it half-way to my mouth, the door I was leaning against thumped me hard in the back from being knocked on. The unexpected _knock_ knocked me forward and sent both plate and pizza clattering to the floor. I ground my teeth together and kicked the plate out of the way as I turned to face the door.

"WHAT," I growled as I pulled the door open with a force that would have ripped it from its hinges if I was stronger.

The tensed-up muscles that had created a scowl on my face relaxed, _immediately_, upon seeing _who_ was on the other side of the door. The expression on _her_ face was more menacing then mine could ever be, and, probably more menacing than anyone's expression could ever be. She was the queen of the death-glare. Her nostrils flared as she exhaled and her searing gaze felt like it could burn a hole right through me. I quickly regretted opening the door so rudely. _Hell, I regretted opening the door at all! __But, I had forgotten all about her._

"Sorry... Hey Rosalie," I smiled sheepishly, but I knew it was a wasted effort, "I'm really sorry about the car."

"You're going to fix it," she snapped and I nodded, with vigor, in agreement.

Rosalie had decided to make the BMW a sort of heirloom after I was nearly born in it. Either _that_ or she was too disgusted to drive it herself anymore. It was probably both, but she still got all sentimental about the car. Rosalie crossed her arms and looked me up and down.

"That _girl's _scent is all over you," Rosalie's spat as her lip curled up in disgust, "We should get you _neutered _before you have the chance to do something _really_ stupid."

The sound of laughter echoed up the staircase from the living room at Rosalie's statement, and acting on instinct, I slammed my bedroom door shut. I quickly realized then that Rosalie could have easily removed my door from the hinges, and I thought she might, since I had basically slammed the door in her face, but, she didn't. The laughter from downstairs reverberated through the floorboards of my room and I groaned as I looked down at the cheesy-tomatoey mess that was smeared across the floor. Usually, even an expired 5-second-rule wouldn't stop me from picking up food and eating it, but, in the case of the fallen pizza, there was nothing left to do but trash it. I flopped down on my bed and stared up at the ceiling as I weighed my options. I either had to decide to starve for the night or face "round 2" with the vamps. I sighed already knowing what my decision would be. I had a very low tolerance to hunger...

* * *

_We rolled across the black sheets that covered my bed until she stopped us with her on top of me. She straddled my hips and leaned down towards my face as her hands roamed over my already bare chest. I raised my head up and seized her lower lip, sucking it in between my teeth until she pulled away. I groaned at the lost contact and she smiled teasingly as she slunk further down my body. Her mouth explored my chest with hot wet kisses that got rougher the lower she went until she stopped at the spot just above my hip. I jumped as her eyes, suddenly, turned red then and her mouth curved up into a wide smile revealing a set of fangs! "Amy?" I asked in disbelief as I tried to rise from underneath her but she pushed me back down. We eyes widened with fear then as she bent her head over me and plunged her fangs into my flesh! I hissed from the pain and…_

_"Caleb."_

_A voice called me and I blinked my eyes several times trying to adjust to the light that now assaulted them. A blurry figure, glowing with an orange aura, slowly came into focus as someone familiar. Someone with extremely bad timing..._

_"Shit," I yelled and rolled over in a heap of sheets off the bed onto the floor._

_I rose up slowly from the floor holding the sheets loosely around my waist as I looked at the girl who was sitting on my bed. Well, technically, she wasn't a girl, but she'd forever look like one._

_"Nes-Mom," I complained, "You promised you wouldn't watch me when I'm sleeping anymore!"_

_I ran my fingers through my hair in humiliation as I remembered how she had once caught me in a compromising situation during one of my more vivid dreams. She looked me up and down with her wide child-like eyes and smiled._

_"You were yelling about "fangs". Were you having a nightmare?"_

_I dropped my arm to my side and rolled my head back with a frustrated sigh. Did the humiliation never end!_

_"Did you really wake me up just so you could ask me about my dream?"_

_Nessie shook her head and a light seemed to flick on in her big brown eyes as if she could burst with the excitement of some secret she knew and I didn't._

_"I woke you up because I have something to show you."_

_Half-dreading to find out what it was, I examined her closely. Her long bronze hair was disheveled and I noticed that there were a few leafs stuck in the curls. She had, no doubt, been out running with my __dad. And, her smile was enthusiastic as she reached her hands out towards my face. The moment her warm palms touched my cheeks my mind was flooded with an image from her memory. As if I was seeing it with my own eyes, a chocolate brown wolf emerged through a thick line of trees and glanced around at his surroundings in wonder. Though I had never seen him in his wolf-form before, I knew him, instantly. _

_"Josh," I said, my voice thick with indifference, and I shook the images from my mind as I tried to focus my eyes back to the present. _

_Nessie lowered her hands from my face and stared at me in the same way Edward always did. Though, she couldn't read minds, she always had a way of seeing right through me, and I turned my head away from her not wanting to see my feelings mirrored in her eyes. She expected that the news of Josh's transformation would make me happy, and I was, sort of. Josh was my cousin, and since he was a kid, all he ever wanted was to be a giant wolf. Now he was. The problem was that: I wasn't and he was 2 years younger than me. _

_"We're going over to La Push next Friday for the bonfire," my mom spoke suddenly in an obvious attempt to break the ice on the previous topic of conversation. _

_"Cool," I replied nonchalantly and she frowned at my lack of enthusiasm._

_"Maybe you could try to invite Amy," Nessie suggested and my ears perked up at the drop of her name._

_Amy didn't know too much about my home life. She only knew the story that we told all the humans: Jacob was my older brother, and after our parents died in a car accident, our old family friends, the Cullen's, took us in. So, it was a shock that anyone would suggest inviting an outsider._

_"Wouldn't that be breaking some tribal rule," I asked as I ran a hand through my hair, _

_"I mean, do you really think it would be okay?"_

_"Sure! As long as her father doesn't try to beat you with a bat again, everything should be fine," Nessie grinned, but her smile faded as she took-in my bored expression, "Well, think about it. It would be very nice to meet Amy..."_

_I glared at Nessie then and she gave me a small smile before turning to leave my room. It was amazing how my family had this ability to pass-off an idea as an innocent suggestion, but I knew better. Nessie was just faking the "cool mom" role so she could arrange the opportunity to meet and then investigate my girlfriend. I shook my head and stared out the window. _My family's respect for my privacy was lacking. No, that was an understatement. In my family's world, privacy was something that didn't exist…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Electricity

"Running" was a popular solution when it came to lateness…but I wasn't that eager to get to class. I walked very calmly through the entrance of the school as I turned down the empty hallway that led to a wall of lockers. Amy's locker was just a few down from mine, and as I passed it I wondered if she'd be at school. Any attempts at reaching her via phone or e-mail had failed. Her dad probably had her cell phone held captive and the Internet on lockdown. It wouldn't surprise me if he had put his own daughter under lock and key too. After all, how could Amy be safe at school with so many "hormonally charged morons" running around? I thought, using Mr. Johnson's own words.

"_Bet she won't be at school,"_ I wagered with myself as I reached out a finger to touch a number on the digital keypad of my locker.

I quickly punched-in my combination and the second that the locker popped open a folded-up piece of paper fell out of the locker and on to the floor. I looked down at ground and immediately recognized the weird brown-tinted, recycled paper that landed between my feet.

"_Amy's here,_" I thought to myself as I picked up the note and shoved it into my pocket.

As I did, I remembered my purpose... _Physics!_ And, I quickly grabbed the book from the stack in my locker before slamming it shut and jogging down the hallway towards my 1st period class. The second I opened the classroom door, the student's heads snapped in my direction, but my entrance didn't even faze the red-frizzy-headed teacher, who stood at the white board writing her science gibberish.

"Take your seat, Mr. Black," Ms. Whitfield ordered without even turning her back to see who I was.

I smiled. _She was a pro._ Or maybe my lateness was just becoming routine. Either way, I walked to my assigned table in compliance and took a seat as I put my book on the tabletop.

"The rest of this week," Ms. Whitfield began and I slid down in my chair as I listened, "We will be discussing the phenomena associated with electricity and magnetism..."

At the word, _electricity_, my breath caught in my throat and I coughed, choking on it. Several heads in the room immediately turned to me and Ms. Whitfield eyed me critically with a single raised eyebrow. I muttered my apology and then, reluctantly, opened my book to the chapter on "electricity". I had done my own research on the physics of electricity, but, no science book would ever offer me the explanation I needed. Somehow I was able to generate an electric charge and shock the people that I touched, but according to the books it wasn't "_scientifically"_ possible. I knew it shouldn't have been a surprise; after all, _my_ life was like a page out of a science fiction novel.I pushed my book away from me then and slid my hand into my pocket to pull out Amy's letter while Ms. Whitfield's back was turned. I unfolded it out on the table and read…

_Caleb,_

_We have a sub 2nd period. You know, the one who always forgets to take attendance? Meet me at your car. _

_-Amy_

_"More skipping…Edward's going to LOVE that," _I thought as I looked out the windows that lined the wall beside me and then I scowled. A heavy down pour was falling and the rain looked as if it had no intention of letting up. _Perfect._

* * *

I was soaked before I made it half-way to the BMW. The cold wind assaulted me from every direction, blowing the rain at me in angles that an umbrella wouldn't have been able to block even if I had one. Amy wasn't standing next to the car, she was already inside of it, and I smiled feeling proud of myself for having left the doors unlocked. I felt sort of heroic, knightly-even, for having saved the no-doubt drenching-damsel from the distress of shitty-weather.

I opened the car door and slid into the driver's seat while closing the door behind me. Just as I suspected, Amy was drenched and her umbrella laid, turned-inside-out, at her feet. I noticed she was shivering slightly and I made quick work to turn on the heater.

"Y-you know, Caleb, you should r-really learn to lock your c-car," Amy lectured me through her chattering teeth.

I laughed and shook my head as I looked at her, little beads of water were still dripping from her hair and she leaned back in the seat, hugging herself. _Some damsel's don't appreciate chivalry..._Then again, it wasn't as if I left the car unlocked, counting on _this_ to happen.

"What? Are you complaining," I asked in disbelief, "It gave you shelter from the rain, didn't it?"

She rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything as she continued to shake. As I stared at her, a worst case scenario of hypothermia, and then, _my_ own funeral (courtesy of her father), crept into my mind. I immediately pulled her to me and wrapped my arms around her, hoping that my body heat could warm her up faster than the damn useless heater was. It was times like these when I wished I was a little more like Jacob, but my 98.6 degrees would have to do. Amy still had her arms wrapped around herself as she pushed closer to me, shivering. _Shit! _I vigorously rubbed my hands up and down her back causing enough friction that I could already feel the back of her jacket warming up.

"M-maybe skipping class was a b-bad idea," Amy mumbled into my shirt.

I hummed in agreement and rested my cheek on the top of her wet head. The wetness of her hair seemed to intensify the smell of her conditioner and the entire car smelled like her. I took a deep breathe, breathing her in, and she moved along with the rise and fall of my chest. I couldn't help but smile. _Bad idea or not, she still ended up in my arms._

"Well, at least you didn't have to stand out in the rain waiting for me to come _unlock_ the car," I gently reminded her, hoping she'd give me some credit.

"You shouldn't leave it unlocked," she replied, giving me nothing, but at least she was no longer stuttering from her chill, "Someone could steal something."

I laughed. _Fat chance of that happening!_

"I'm parked between two revolutionary smart cars that can do about everything, except make a ham and cheese omelet," I pointed out and she buried her face into my chest, laughing, "I don't think anyone would spare my car a second glance. Besides, they wouldn't find anything in here worth stealing!"

"Well, someone could always just take the entire car, Caleb. The passenger side looks good as new, now. They'd be getting a steal!"

I winced at her reference to the passenger side, "So, you witnessed my 'shining moment' behind the wheel, huh?"

"Uh, _yeah!_ You were right in front of my house. But, what happened?"

I didn't want her to know that I had been looking up at her window as I pulled out into the street, so I shrugged my shoulders, "I got distracted..."

Amy sighed as she toyed with the material at my collar.

"It was because of my dad, right?"

I couldn't argue with that, but it didn't feel right to blame him. I started to say something then, but Amy beat me to it.

"I'm sorry about him. He just, umm, he doesn't... He's one of those really narrow minded, old fashioned people. He always gets so overprotective when it comes to my boyfriends. And I mean, we only have a few months left before graduation and he's practically ready to send me to an all-girl's-school! Can you believe that?"

I just blinked. My ears had stopped listening somewhere after the word "boyfriends", but, I could still hear the words her dad had told me, clear as day, from two days ago: _I know the difference between guys like you and the guys that they are actually serious about._ Had her dad seen Amy when she was "serious" about another guy? I shook my head and tried not to think about it as I looked out the window. So, instead, I thought about the bonfire and the possibility of Amy going…

"Hey," I began and cleared my throat nervously, "Would you, umm, want to come with me to La Push and meet some of my family?"

She grinned and her eyes lit up as she looked at me. My eyes widened, surprised by her reaction, but I smiled back.

"Seriously? Are you sure," she asked with excitement in her voice, "I mean, are you really, REALLY sure? Because I had it calculated that I'd probably have to wait another 2 years before you introduced me to anyone in your family!"

I smiled at the fact that she had planned for us to be together for another 2 years. _Her dad had to be wrong!_

"Yeah, of course I'm serious. But, maybe I should try to patch things up with your dad though," I paused in disbelief that I would even consider it, but I did, "I could do some yard work for him, give his car a tune-up, polish his trophies—"

Amy laughed, "Caleb, seriously, don't even worry about him. Just tell me _when_ and I will be there."

I looked away from her for a moment. She was worth it, to me, to do whatever was needed to get on her dad's good side, but she didn't want that…

"Do _you_ know when it will be," Amy asked, sounding impatient.

"Huh? Oh! Yeah, sorry. It'll be this Friday and we usually leave around 5..."

"We," she asked raising her eye brows in curiosity.

"My brother and his girlfriend will be coming with us," I replied, resenting the lie._Correction: My parents will be coming with us._

"Aww, Caleb," Amy cooed, placing her hands on either side of my face, "You're taking me home to meet your family!"

An "uh huh" was my only response as she repositioned herself so that she was straddling my lap. She threw her arms over my shoulders and I could feel her hands grabbing the back of my seat_ as she slowly lowered her lips to mine._ I breached the distance and pressed my mouth to hers as my hands fought the urge to touch her. Instead, I grasped at the air around her back like there was an invisible force-field there; afraid that if I touched her I would be filled, again, with the desire _not_ to. But then, Amy wiggled on my lap as she pressed her body closer to mine and my force-field immediately vanished. I pressed my hands against her back, holding her against me as I wondered: _How I could ever resist touching her__?_ But, the moment I did a shock past through us and reminded me that she wasn't _mine_ to touch. I quickly withdrew my hands. _Shit._ _It answered my question! _Amy laughed against my mouth from the jolt, bringing me back to reality, and I slowly raised my hand to place at the back of her head as I kissed her. My mouth went on automatic pilot then as my mind reeled over my new discovery. _It's triggered by questions!_

"_Well," _I thought to myself,_ "Whose is she?"_

I moved my hand down to her back again and the jolt was a little stronger this time. I was filled with a strong sense of guilt as if I was betraying someone by being with her. But, who? The only one I could even think of that I was betraying was her _dad_! Amy started giggling then and it broke my train of thought.

"What is it with you," she asked, smiling, as she pulled away from me, "You're like a super conductor for static electricity!"

I laughed nervously. _You don't know the half of it..._

"I think it's just the humidity or something."

"Well, whatever it is…I like it," she replied as she planted a kiss at the corner of my mouth. _Funny, how she could like the very thing that tells me _we_ shouldn't be together…_

"Hey, the rain's stopped," Amy noted as she rolled off of me and got back on her side of the car, "We should start heading inside before the bell rings."

I watched her as she gathered up her destroyed umbrella. I didn't want to "head inside". School was the least of my concerns and I wouldn't be able to pay attention to anything the teachers said anyway. All I could think about was my... "ability". I could touch something, with a question in my mind, and have it answered..._I think. _I wasn't 100% sure that that's how it worked, but, I _was_ sure that I needed to talk to someone about it...

_"Are you coming," she asked._

_I shook my head "no", and surprisingly, she didn't ask me why._

"Well, I'll start making arrangements for Friday, okay," she said as she kissed my cheek

"Sweet!"

She smiled at that and then turned to open the door. I watched as she climbed out of the passenger seat and stood to her feet.

"Thanks for keeping me warm," she said and then closed the car door before I could reply.

I watched her grow smaller in my rear view mirror as she walked back towards the entrance of the school. I had trouble accepting this idea that she wasn't "mine". But, I would go home, and make it better by zapping some answers out of a few vampires...

* * *

Strangely enough, the rain storm seemed to have blown over. The sky was still overcast, but none of the dark, sinister-looking clouds, from earlier, still hung around. As I pulled into the driveway, I could see Alice sitting on the porch steps, and even more strange than the lack of rain, was the fact that I didn't mind that she was waiting. I shut off the engine, got out of the car, and walked towards her. _Had she seen everything? _I decided that I would try to "ask" her.

"Hi, Caleb," Alice greeted, smiling, as I sat down beside her.

"Hey," I replied, placing my hand on her shoulder, and zapping her.

Alice didn't flinch at the jolt. I wasn't surprised. Immediately after touching her, I had the feeling that Alice had seen everything, including _me_ trying to zap her.

"It works," I stated in disbelief as I looked into Alice's golden eyes, "I can get answers through touching people."

"I know," she replied as she snaked her small arm behind my back and pulled me into a half-hug, "I was wrong about one thing. You're ability is more like Nessie's, not mine. It's almost the reverse of hers. Did you notice? Her touch gives input and your touch takes it."

"Yeah, I guess, but she doesn't _shock_ people when she touches them..."

"Well, maybe that's how your ability works. Maybe it runs off the nerve impulses in the human body. It's like you can manipulate the energy in their minds and find out what you need!"

I laughed. Manipulate energy_? __Ha!__Next thing you know, I'll be shooting lightning bolts from my fingers tips..._

"Hmm, well, thank you Dr. Alice for that interesting explanation, " I said as I stared at her with a raised eye brow, "When exactly did you get your PhD in supernatural abilities?"

Alice relinquished her arm from around my back and stuck her tongue out at me, "I've been a vampire with a supernatural ability for over a century, Caleb. I think I would know a little something about them."

I nodded to myself as considered that, "Yeah, I guess that's true."

"Have you put anymore thought into the warnings about Amy," Alice asked as she searched my eyes.

I shrugged my shoulders, "I think it's just because of her dad. And, I know you think I should stay away from her, but, if I do, I'll always wonder if anything bad would have ever happened from staying with her. I'd rather take my chances."

Alice nodded her spiky little head, "I just don't want you to get hurt, none of us do."

I rolled my eyes and smiled, "Have you had any visions of me getting hurt?"

She shook her head, glumly, "No, but I can't really see far ahead into _your_ future. There are too many half-breeds hanging around you!"

I laughed and stood to my feet, planning to go inside, "Coming?"

Alice crossed her arms over her chest and humphed, "No, there's another foul-smelling half-breed, clouding my vision inside the house!"

I shook my head at her description of the wolves being "foul-smelling" and sighed. _Why can't we all just put our personal odors behind us? _They all smelled fine to me! Of course, my senses weren't strong enough to smell the difference between vampires and werewolves. But, if I could, I would've known, first thing when I pulled in the driveway that there was another wolf inside the house...


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing

_The vampire's mouth twisted up into his always hideous smile. By now, I had learned what would follow that ominous smile and I dug my claws into the ground, bracing myself for the fight. Upon seeing the movement, he hissed at me through his teeth and my lips curled over my fangs as I growled in return. He flew at me, then, with his arms stretched out and fingers curled inward, baring his razor-sharp nails. Remembering a previous encounter with those nails, I bolted from his path, but I wasn't fast enough. His nails dug into my side, slicing through fur and skin, and I growled as I spun around on him. I grabbed his leg with my teeth, pulling his feet out from under him, and I then slung his body into the trees. A loud thud accompanied his crash as his head slammed into the trunk of a tree and I ran to where his body had landed. I was filled with a sense of pride as I hovered over him, but the pride only lasted a moment. Before I had time to react, the deceptive vampire reached up, grabbed my head and twisted it around until I heard a snap. _

_The snap was the last sound I heard before everything went black. I was dead…_

"You know, pup, it never gets old watching that guy kill you," Emmett joked.

I took the virtual headset off from around my eyes and ears and then ran a hand through my hair, frustrated_, _as I looked at the flat screen. The usual red blinking letters that always followed my virtual death were flashing its usual "_Count_Suckula has defeated you"_ message on the screen. _Fang Wars_. It was my favorite game and I got my ass handed to me every time.

"_19 loses, 0 wins,"_ I mentally scolded myself as I flicked off the wireless electrodes that were stuck to my skin, like band aids, at each of my pressure points.

"'_Count_Suckula' sucks_," I muttered under my breath as I glared at the screen.

"Technically, you're the one who sucks," Emmett said with a laugh, "Maybe when you _finally_ become a wolf your reflexes will be fast enough to kill him...maybe."

"Damn _leech_," I uttered under my breath and then turned my head so I could see Emmett out of the corner of my eye. His expression was devoid of any amusement, and a corner of my mouth curved up into a half-smile as I noticed that he caught the vagueness of, _who, _exactly_,_ my curse had been directed at.

Emmett moved, then, at a speed too fast for my eyes to follow. One second he was standing behind the black leather couch, and then a split second later, he was in my face. I staggered back in surprise of the sudden closeness.

"Don't you think you're a little too _human_ to be mouthing off," Emmett asked with a grin on his face.

"Don't you think you should have a little more _dignity _than to pick-on one," I countered defiantly as I stood eye level with him.

"Hey. Hey," a voice yelled from the kitchen and I turned around having forgotten that Emmett and I _weren't_alone, "Don't make me come in there and break you two _girls_up!"

Jacob was standing in the doorway of the kitchen wiping the crumbs off his face from the entire pie he had, no doubt, just eaten. _Girls?_ Emmett and I shared a glance, then, before turning back to scowl at Jacob.

"Yeah," another voice called from behind Jacob, this one was muffled from trying to chew and talk at the same time, "Don't get your panties in a wad, Emmett. When Caleb calls you a 'leech' it's really just a term of endearment!"

Josh had been in the kitchen helping Jacob tear into the pies Bella had spent the morning baking. She didn't eat human food, but she still enjoyed cooking it, despite the "smell". I glanced back at Emmett and smiled at him from Josh's comment.

"Yes," I agreed with mock enthusiasm as I stared into Emmett's eyes, "It's just my way of saying: I love you…"

Emmett smirked at my retort, "And every time I tighten the lid on your favorite foods, or hide the toilet paper, that's just _my_ way of saying: I love you."

"Ok, ok," Josh interrupted, still mumbling from his mouth being full as he moved past Jacob, "You guys are making me sick!"

I watched Emmett grimace at the sight of Josh chewing with an open mouth as he talked. H_e, no doubt, was making_ Emmett sick. I laughed.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you the proper way to eat your _kibble_," Emmett asked with a sneer.

Josh gave an opened-mouth laugh, _and_ then, he swallowed his bite of food, "Ah, that's so funny how you managed to slip another one of your little 'dog' puns in there, but, yeah of course my mom taught me the proper way to eat… Who else do you think I got my eating habits from?"

Jacob and I, both, laughed. _It was true. _Claire's eating habits were just as bad as the rest of the packs. Jacob said it was because the pack, basically, raised her. Quil, Josh's dad, had imprinted on her when she was just a baby and from that moment, Quil, had sort of become a nanny. The thought of imprinting on someone that young made me cringe. _Shit, imprinting in general was cringe-worthy! _And, I, was a product of it...

I flopped onto the couch and stared at the red, lettered message that was still flashing on the flat screen: _Count_Suckula has defeated you_. Emmett sat down, soundlessly, at the other end of the couch, then, and Josh jumped in between us from behind.

"Man, do you really suck that bad at this game, or, is that guy just _that_ good," Josh asked.

"Who said it's a guy," Emmett spoke first, "It's probably a girl!"

Emmett grinned at me as I glared at him, but I didn't have a comeback. Guy, girl, whatever—Count_Suckula had some serious "Fang War" playing skills.

"My theory," Emmett began again and I rolled my eyes at the sound of is voice, "Is that Caleb just sucks at killing vampires. Good thing you're not a wolf! You probably wouldn't be much help to the pack anyway."

I narrowed my eyes at Emmett's douche-bag remark, but turned my attention to Josh.

"So, have you seen any vampire action yet?"

"Nah. We've picked up a few scents but it's like their just scoping out the place and then passing through," Josh replied, "Eli thinks that the word about vampire-killing-wolves has spread and the vamps are too scared to come around."

Eli Uley had been the first one to phase out of the "second generation" wolves, and I guess, he thought that that somehow made him an expert. _Thought._

Jacob scoffed at the theory, "If word had spread, we'd probably be hunting more vampires than we'd have the numbers to kill. Vampires are arrogant. If they knew about us, they'd probably all come here thinking they'd just get a good fight."

"A 'good fight'," Emmett mocked with a laugh, "You wolves don't know how to dish out a 'good fight'! You'll attack one vampire as an entire pack! Now, if you went one-on-one _that_ would be another story. Then, a vampire wouldn't have any trouble taking out one of you toddlers running around in your wolf suits."

Jacob snorted.

"See what I mean about vampires? They're arrogant."

Emmett smirked at Jacob and Jacob's returning expression was smug as Josh and I laughed. I noticed, then, a gleam in Emmett's eyes as he turned his gaze on me. His devilish grin spread across his face as we stared at each other. I was afraid to _ask,_ but the shitty smile on his face started to creep me out...

"WHAT," I yelled.

"I heard you invited your girlfriend to the bonfire," Emmett began and I closed my eyes wishing the topic would revert back to, _me, _not being a wolf, "How'd that work out?"

I looked to my dad with pleading eyes hoping he'd ask Emmett to go play fetch with him, or, I don't know, "_anything"_ to make him go away. But, Jacob looked even more interested than Emmett. _Great._

"Good, I guess," I shrugged and then glanced at Josh, who was smiling at me.

I raised my eye brows in question and Josh laughed.

"Seriously, dude," he said, "You're bringing your _girlfriend_ to a bonfire? Are you sure that's a good idea? It'll probably run her off..."

"That's why it's a _good_idea," Emmett declared, before I could say a word.

"You're saying that 'scaring her off' is a good idea!" I asked through my teeth as I glared at him

"No, no, no," Emmett spoke quickly as he waved his hands in the air, "It'd be a good way to test if she's a keeper, or not." _A "keeper"! What-the-Hell!_

I ran my fingers roughly through my hair and looked between Jacob and Josh, hoping they could translate.

"Can someone tell me what-the-Hell he's talking about," I asked, but Jacob and Josh looked just as confused I was.

"Alright, alright," Emmett began, his grin as big as ever, "Let me break it down for you amateurs. You have to test this girl to find out if she's worth possibly getting beat with a bat over. So, you take her over to La Push, and the first test is to let her meet all your other werewolf buddies. For some reason, the human girls really seem to like that whole woodsy-animalistic quality about you mutts, and if her eyes don't start to wander…she passes test one! Test two is to let her get the low-down on all that 'descended from wolves' bullshit, and if she still wants to get your pants off after hearing that baloney…she's a keeper!"

I stared blankly at Emmett, dumbfounded by the amount of thought he had put into this scenario, and, as equally disturbed by it.

"_Talk_ about bullshit," Jacob said, breaking the silence as he looked at Emmett, "You just spouted a mouthful."

Emmett opened his mouth to probably spout-out some more shit, but I didn't want to hear it. I walked around to the back of the couch, my movement distracted Emmett from speaking, and I came to a stop behind Josh. I quickly reached out my hand and pulled the collar of Josh's shirt until he fell backwards into the couch from his leaning-forward position.

"Hey," he yelled in complaint and turned around to look at me for an explanation.

"Come on," I said gesturing with my head towards the door, "Let's play fetch."

Josh gave a dry laugh and sluggishly climbed over the back of the couch, "Don't be thinking that just because your dad's my alpha that that makes _me_ your bitch."

I looked back at the couch he had just climbed over, and scoffed, "Josh-man, if Esme was here to see the way you climb over her furniture you'd be cowering like one..."

* * *

I sat on the trunk of a fallen tree as I watched Josh run through the forest in wolf-form. He ran at a speed that I had only experienced through a few rides on my dad's back as a little kid. But, even that wasn't _really_ experiencing the speed. All I had felt was the wind whipping at my face and the scenery flying by in a blur. To be able to propel my body forward and move my legs at that speed—I took deep breath—it would be incredible, but for me, probably, impossible. I was a genetic dead end_._ A black sheep in a family of lions and wolves and bears. A mortal among immortals...

Josh came trotting towards me then with his tongue lolled out of his mouth and his eyes glinting happily. He sat down on the ground beside me and stared off into the trees at something my weak-human eyes couldn't see. I looked up at him, his huge wolf-body was covered in chocolate brown fur, and even sitting down he sat much taller than me. I wondered what it was like. I knew I could ask him and he would tell me, but, I wanted to _feel _what it was like. I reached my hand towards him and poked him in his shoulder with my finger as I wondered what it felt like to be a wolf.

I felt the familiar jolt pass through us and he jumped from the shock. I was filled with a sense of total freedom. None of the worldly obligations or stresses mattered. I felt powerful and carefree like the world was my playground, but, there was also an underlining weight, a burden. I withdrew my hand and Josh turned his head to me, threatening me with his fangs. I smiled up at him sheepishly.

"Sorry," I spoke through my teeth and he growled through his.

Josh rose up on to all-fours and then ran into the woods, disappearing from my sight. When he returned a few seconds later, he was back in human-form with his pants on and an accusing expression on his face.

"What did you just do," he asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I shocked you."

Josh rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I know, I felt it! But, _why_?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "I can feel things from people when I touch them. And, I just wanted to see how it felt to be a wolf."

Josh walked over to a tree and leaned his back against the trunk as he gave me a bored look, "You'll find out soon enough."

I looked down at the ground and shook my head as I scoffed, disbelievingly, at his remark. A moment caught my eye then and I looked up as Josh pushed himself away from the tree with enough force that a few pieces of bark flaked off.

"Caleb, you're so full of shit," he yelled as he twisted his face up into a scowl, "I can't believe you still think that you'll never phase! You've already got this cool psychic-power that no one else in the pack has, and you'll be one bad-ass wolf when you do phase!"

I laughed as I got off of the fallen tree trunk. I didn't care about being "a bad-ass wolf". I just didn't want to be the only human, anymore.

"It's not a matter of when," I said as I walked away from Josh and back towards the house, "It's a matter of if."

I only took two more steps before something hard hit me in the back and made me stop. I clenched my fists as I turned around to see an out-of-place rock at my feet. I glared up at Josh, who was grinning as he tossed another rock into the air and caught it.

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself," Josh yelled and threw the other rock at a tree, "I swear, you're worse than Leah!"

_Leah! Why the hell would he compare me to her? _I never was around Leah much. She had made a point to stay away from me and the half of my family that drank blood, but I had still heard stories about her bitchiness. Supposedly she had gotten over that whole Sam-Emily thing for awhile, but as soon as Eli was born she got all bitchy again. _I was NOT worse than Leah!_ I reached down to pick-up the rock and then chunked it at Josh's head. He deflected it with his hand.

"Damn dog!"

"Hey," Josh protested as he pointed a finger at me, "When you talk down about me you're only talking down about yourself."

"I'm not the one with the tail," I reminded him as I turned and started walking away again.

"You're just jealous," he yelled after me, "But don't you worry Caleb! You'll phase soon enough and then you'll get your share of seeing bare-ass dudes on a daily basis, having all your private thoughts and feelings shared with others, and then, one day, you might even imprint on some girl you don't even know!"

I cringed at the word "imprint". It was the one downfall to being a wolf. When you imprint you get your freewill taking from you. I didn't want some damn invisible force choosing a girl for me! I swallowed hard at the thought and stopped in my tracks.

"Josh," I said as I slowly turned around to face him, "Thanks so much for making shape-shifting sound like a damn curse. Now, I'm going to go home and try to get one of the vamps to bite me again to see if, by some miracle, I'm no longer immune to venom!"

"Good luck with that," Josh chuckled, "So, uh, vampire or not, I'll still see you Friday at the bonfire, right?"

"Sure, sure," I muttered under my breath as I started walking towards the house again.

Josh knew I couldn't become a vampire. Vampirism wasn't an option for me. There was just enough venom in my system that I was immune to it but there wasn't enough to give me any of the benefits. But, maybe being immortal wasn't such a great thing after all. All _magic_ seemed to come with some sort of price. Vampires were a slave to their own thirst and the wolves were slaves, _period! _Superhuman-ness lost it's appeal when I thought about it like that. But hell, who was I kidding! The strength and speed was more than enough to make up for it's pitfalls!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Fire

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**TUESDAY.**

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**WEDNESDAY.**

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**THURSDAY.**

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**FRIDAY:**

The school grounds were empty except for myself and a couple of half-breeds who couldn't keep their hands to themselves. I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned my side against the BWM so that my back was turned to them. But, unfortunately, I could still _hear, _and my mom was giggling like a little girl who was being told a dirty secret. I groaned and squeezed my eyes closed tight as I tried to chase off the stray thoughts of what my dad might be whispering. My mom giggled louder. _Shit!_

"Can't you _wait _until I'm not around," I yelled as I slowly turned to face them.

Nessie was sitting on the black motorcycle with her knees spread out around Jacob's thighs as he stood before her. I cringed at the image but the scowl on my face didn't stop them from smiling at me. Nessie's smile was more innocent, and _maybe_, appologetic, but Jacob's was just amused.

"_What_," he asked, faking ignorance, "I thought you wanted us to act '_natural__'_? You're girlfriend will be here any second! I'm supposed to be your impassioned 20-year-old bother, not your frigid 50-year-old father..."

I narrowed my eyes, "Lame excuse..._dad_."

Through the corner of my eye I saw a moving object and I turned my head to face the car that had stopped in front of the parking lot. _Amy! _I turned my head back to face my parents as my nerves started to kick in. Jacob raised his eyebrows and gestured with his head as if to taunt me with a: "I told ya so". And, Nessie's expression seemed to mirror my feelings: _anxious_. Amy had gotten out of the car that was now speeding off, but, I ignored it as I stared at her. We locked eyes and she smiled as she ran towards me to breach the distance. The sight of her running to me with a smile on her face caused nervous spasms in my stomach. "_Butterflys"? _Nah, guys don't get butterflys! Only girls get butterflys! ...R_ight?_

"Hello," Amy greeted a little breathlessly as she slowed to a walk once she neared me.

I couldn't speak. Seeing her there in the presence of my family seemed to make it official, like I was hers, and, she was _mine_. I was vaguely aware that my parents had greeted her in return then. Despite the April air that was still chilled, Amy wore a knee-length dress, and I watched, in awe, at the way the wind sent it fluttering around her legs. It was the same way her hair fluttered around her face. God, she was beautiful.

"Hey bro!" The voice of my dad called and it snapped me out of my _Amy-induced_ daze, "Are you going to introduce us or what?"

"Uh," I uttered dumbly as I stared at Amy, "Yeah, sure. I'm sorry, _here_..."

I moved towards Amy and reached for her hand with a grin on my face. I laced my fingers with hers and squeezed gently, relishing in the feel of her hand in my mine. I led her to stand in front of my parents then and I raised my free arm out to gesture to my dad.

"Amy," I spoke, preparing myself for the lie, "This is my brother, Jacob. Jacob, this is Amy."

Jacob stuck out his hand for hers and they shared a quick shake.

"It's a pleasure," he said with a big grin, "I've never seen a girl run in a dress by _choice_ before."

Amy looked up at me, smiling, before she turned back to Jacob.

"Well, at least I'm not wearing heels," she replied as she showed us the girly flats she wore on her feet.

Jacob laughed. "At least," he agreed.

I turned to my mom, then, who had already slid off the bike in anticipation of meeting her.

"Amy, this is Jacob's girlfriend, Renesmee," I said.

"Call me Nessie," my mom said enthusiastically as she took the hand that Amy offered and pulled her into a hug. ___Great. She's doing the damn "mom-thing"..._

Amy gave me a wide-eyed-surprised look from Nessie's shoulder and I winced-up my face in apology.

"It's nice to meet you, Amy," Nessie said as she grabbed Amy's shoulders and pushed her out of the hug to look at her.

"Um, yes," Amy agreed, uneasily, "You too..._Nessie_..."

I glared at my mom from over the top of Amy's head, sending her a warning with my eyes. Nessie just smiled and shrugged off my glares.

"So are you ready," Nessie asked Amy, sounding a little too mom-like.

"Yes," Amy replied as she looked up at me in question, no doubt, wondering what the deal was with my "brothers" crazy "girlfriend".

My mom opened her mouth to say something else but Jacob quickly swung his arm over her shoulder and pulled her behind him.

"GREAT," he declared, as he moved the two of them towards his bike, "Let's get out of here then!"

I nodded in agreement and started pulling Amy towards my car. We heard the _VROOOM _of the motorcycle as my parents sped off down the road and then Amy stopped.

"What kind of name is _Renesmee_," She asked and I swallowed, taken-aback by the question. _Oh, it's just a____ weird name my grandmother came up with..._

I opened the door for her and _blew out a frustrated breath as I tried to come-up with something I could actually tell her._

"I really don't know," I lied as I watched her slide into the car, "Maybe it's...French."

I closed her door, and then, walked behind the car to get to the drivers side as I ground my teeth together. _"____It's French"? What an IDIOT!_I'd have to learn to _lie_ better than that. Otherwise, Amy would eventually catch on when I was telling a lie, and, _we_ had a long road of lies ahead of us. I opened my car door then and dropped into the seat. Amy was already smiling when I turned to look at her._ She deserved better than some guy who told her lies all the time, but I didn't know if I could stand seeing her with someone else._

_"Are we still going," Amy asked impatiently and I realized that I had just been staring at her._

_I laughed nervously and cranked the engine. But, for some reason it seemed to take a little more effort than usual to shift into drive and the accelerator seemed harder to push than I remembered. I had this feeling that it was all because I was psyching myself out again about the idea of __"someone else" and part of me didn't want the car to move. I looked over at Amy and then slowly pulled out of the schools parking lot. She smiled at me, not just with her mouth, but with her eyes and she seemed to radiate happiness. I smiled back, feeling happy by just looking at her._

* * *

"Wow! So that's the bonfire, huh?" Amy asked as she leaned her head on my shoulder.

We were parked on the sand at First Beach and neither of us wanted to get out of the car just yet. I wrapped my arm around her waist to pull her closer to me as I stared out across the beach to the bonfire.

"Yep. It's usually not that big though. Hmm, I guess the guys were just trying to impress you."

I laughed at the thought and Amy stared up at me.

"Are you serious?"

I looked down at her and nodded, not a single sign of humor was on my face. She looked back at the bonfire in disbelief but I kept my eyes on her as I watched a strand of her hair fall into her face. I reached out my hand and brushed it behind her ear, letting my fingers trace the line from her jaw to her chin. Her head made the tiniest moment in my direction then and I placed a hand on both sides of her face, pulling her towards me, as I lowered my mouth down to hers. I pressed my lips firmly but gently to hers and closed my eyes tight as I kissed her once. Just once, before pulling away so I could see her face. Her eyelids were still closed but I stared at them willing them to open. I wanted her eyes to be open when I told her what I suddenly felt that I had to say. I guess it was the combination of being, ___here_, in the place that I grew up, and just being with her. She opened her eyes then and my heart pounded a little faster as I looked into them. She smiled at me, and that was it, I _had_ to tell her.

"Amy," I spoke softly as I looked into her eyes, "I l—"

"CALEB," a voice yelled from behind me and Amy jumped, "Are you two going to make-out in your car all night or what?" ___Perfect timing, you ass!_

I groaned and slid down into my seat as I glowered up at my 15 year-old cousin.

"Amy this is my cousin Josh," I said in a bored tone as I pointed to the jackass who'd stopped me from pouring my heart out, "Josh, this is _Amy_."

Josh stuck his head in the car and leaned over me so that he could shake Amy's hand. I had the urge to reach out and slam his head into the wind shield. But, I didn't want to risk damaging the BMW again. I growled as Josh lingered a little too long and he quickly recoiled from the car.

"Well! Come on, kids," Josh said as he pulled me from my seat with a strength that wouldn't have been expected from 15-year-old, "We can all see you through the windshield. You might as well be making-out by the fire!"

I glared at him and then slammed the car door shut as I watched Josh give a dramatic bow before offering his hand out to Amy.

"Ma' lady," he spoke with a grin as Amy took his hand and Josh helped her to her feet.

"Umm...thanks," Amy said and turned to me as if she was looking for an explanation, but there was no explanation that could explain Josh.

The three of us walked through the sand towards the bonfire then. Josh pointed to random people, telling Amy who they were and I was thankful that he saved me from having to make up the lies. Josh was much better at it. Amy reached for my hand as we came closer to the crowd and I gave her hand a little squeeze from reassurance.

"See the guy sitting by the fire," Josh asked Amy and I watched as she nodded her head, "That's Seth! He always puts himself in charge of roasting the weenies so no one can complain about how many hotdogs he eats!"

Amy laughed and looked up at me with a wide smile on her face. I smiled back and hoped that, for the night, the guys could control their eating habits. I didn't want Amy to freak out about their ridiculously enormous appetites. Josh ran ahead of us towards Seth then and Amy smiled as she watched him go.

"I like your cousin," she whispered, and I looked down at her, surprised, "He's very...energetic."

I looked up at Josh, wondering if he had heard her, and he winked at me from over his shoulder. Damn super-hearing-wolf! In that moment, I thought about Emmett and I remembered his stupid test. _Test 1: See if the wolf boys make her eyes wander. _I ground my teeth together and felt like kicking my own ass for even doubting Amy. She was only being nice about Josh. She wasn't "interested" in him. We stepped up behind the second wolf boy of the night then. Seth was roasting a weenie over the fire as he sat on a piece of drift wood next to Josh.

"Hey Seth," I greeted.

"Hey!" Seth yelled cheerfully and handed his weenie to Josh, "Here Ateara, hold this for a second."

Seth stood to his feet and turned to face us with his huge, happy grin. He didn't look that much older than me or Amy, but he _was. _Seth stuck his hand out to Amy and Amy shook it.

"You must be Amy," Seth said, grinning, "Heard a lot about you. I'm Seth, Caleb's friend."

"Hi," she said shyly and then looked at me, no doubt, wondering _what _exactly he had heard about her. I shrugged my shoulders. ___I wondered too..._

Seth sat back down on his piece of driftwood and I put my arm around Amy as I looked around the bonfire. Nessie was sitting on a big piece of drift wood next to my great-grandpa, Charlie, and Sue Clearwater. I waved discretely to them from behind Amy's head. I didn't feel like coming up with a lie for how _we_ knew each other. Grandpa Charlie seemed to nod in understanding and I nodded back.

"Here," Josh said as he got up from beside Seth and handed Amy and I a hotdog.

"Umm, maybe later," Amy said with a smile as shook her head.

Josh shrugged and handed both hotdogs to me. I pointed one of the hotdogs at Amy in a gesture of asking if she was "sure" before I took a bite out of it. She just shook her head again and smiled a "no thanks". I scarfed down one of the hotdogs as I watched Josh make small talk with Amy. Then, I looked across the way at my dad, who stood with some of the guys from the original pack. He looked much younger than all the other men, even though, they were _all_ in there late 40's or early 50's. They had been the pack elders since grandpa Billy died and Sam was the one who told the legends now. At the thought of Sam, I swallowed my bite of hotdog and looked around as I realized someone was missing. My eyes searched the beach, skimming quickly over Leah who was the only other person I hadn't noticed, but _wasn't_ who I was looking for.

"Hey, where's Eli," I asked Josh.

Josh cleared his throat and his eyes shifted meaningfully between me and Amy and then towards the trees behind us.

"He, uh, um, went out to buy marshmallows!" Which really meant he was currently in worl-form.

Amy smiled up at me, not fooled that Josh was trying to cover something up.

"Is he buying graham crackers and chocolate bars too," Amy asked, grinning at Josh.

"Ha, no," Josh smiled, looking down at his feet, "We haven't been _allowed _to make smores since Eli put an Ex Lax chocolate bar in the smore he made for Leah."

Amy laughed and Josh did too, but I didn't. I glanced back in Leah's direction knowing she could hear their laughter. I knew how it felt to be the butt of the joke, and, it wasn't funny. Leah sat in the sand, with her arms wrapped around her knees as she faced the fire. And, I swore I could see flames in her eyes as she caught me looking and then stared back at me. I looked away from her then as someone else caught my eye. Eli, Leah's least favorite person after Sam and vampires and _me_, was approaching us from the direction of the woods.

"Hey, there's Eli," Josh yelled before I even thought of it.

As Eli got closer, I could tell that something was off. He stared with a very intense gaze at Amy. I cocked an eyebrow in confusion at his expression. It was like a combination of never-having-seen-a-girl-before and...awe.

"Eli," I said and he never looked away from Amy, "This is Amy. Amy, this is Eli."

I watched as Amy stuck out her hand towards Eli. Her stare was just as intense as his and her lips were slightly parted just like his in surprise. And, I guessed that that was just her reaction to the dumbass look that was on Eli's face, but when I looked over at Josh hoping to see his amusement at this whole scene...it wasn't there. Josh's expression almost seemed sad, but it was a kind of sadness I'd never seen before. My eyes turned back to Eli as I watched him take Amy's hand and hold it longer than what seemed socially appropriate, or rather, longer than what _I_ was okay with. I laughed in disbelief at what I was seeing.

"Alright, alright," I called as I reached out a hand to push him away from my girlfriend, wondering why-the-hell he was staring at her the way he was.

The moment my hand touched him there was the old familiar _shock_, and then, my mind was assaulted with images as if Eli's thoughts had somehow been transmitted into my mind. I could see the dreams that were playing out in his head as if they were my dreams! Only, when I had dreams of Amy they didn't span past the years, or to our wedding, and definitely not to point when we were old and white-headed and surrounded by grandchildren... But, Eli's dreams did. I felt nauseous and a sharp pain throbbed at my temples. I pulled my hand back with a gasp as I clutched at my head.

"Caleb, are you alright," Amy asked placing her hand on my shoulder but I shrugged away from her touch.

There was a word for what had just happened between Amy and Eli and it came out of my mouth in a raspy sound that was laced with venom, "Imprinted."

I glared at Eli and his brow furrowed with remorse as he looked away from me in shame. ___Fucking, coward.__ A heat started to rise-up inside of me in the same way it does under the lid of the bowling pot. _I started to shake from the pressure that was building up under my skin as looked at Eli.

"CALEB," Seth and Josh yelled simultaneously and moved towards me, no doubt, wanting to prevent me from boiling over.

I ignored them though and kept my eyes on Eli. He stared back at me then, wide-eyed with fear, and it only pissed me off more, like I was an animal reacting to fear with violence. And, my initial reaction was to gouge his eye balls from his sockets!!

"You," I sneered at him and stepped closer, but, "you" was all I managed to say before big hands latched around my arms and pulled me back.

My shaking intensified as I tried to break from the iron grasp that was holding me but the hands were too strong. I threw my head back to see that it was my dad. Jacob continued to pull me back but he met some resistance as a burst of strength overtook me and I lunged forward towards Eli. Eli automatically stepped in front of Amy taking a protective stance. I watched as Amy placed her hand on Eli's arm as she leaned around him to see me. Her face was a mixture of bewilderment and fear and I hated that I was the cause of it. I gave up then and stopped fighting. Jacob pulled me backwards into the trees and I shook the whole way as I watched Amy grow smaller as the distance between us grew.

The pain was still in my head and my body kept to a steady vibration. Jacob turned me to face him once we were inside the cover of the trees and his expression was concerned.

"He imprinted on her," I growled, the words leaving a bad taste in my mouth, or, maybe it was just the fact that my throat felt really dry.

Jacob grasped my shoulders and shook his head as he examined me, "You should have phased by now."

His voice was low as he spoke and there was fear in it. I didn't really care. I reached my hands up then to push his hands off of me, but the second I exerted that force the sharp pain stabbed at my temples again and I stumbled back as I clutched my head in my hands.

"Caleb," my dad yelled and rushed forward to grab my shoulders again.

I felt myself shaking under his grasp and I looked up slowly to see his face. His eyes shot wide open and his mouth dropped as he stared at my face.

"Your nose is bleeding," Jacob said, his voice riddled with worry as he wiped it from my face with his hand.

It vaguely registered in my mind that my bleeding nose was probably somehow tied-in with the pain in my head. But, at the word "bleeding", at the thought of _blood_, all I knew for sure was that my throat was not only dry, but it burned. I barely noticed the shaking anymore amongst the fire that started kindling through my body. It felt like molten lava was being pumped through my veins via my heart and the pain of it knocked me off my feet. I fell forward into my dads chest and clawed at his shoulders as I tried to hold myself up.

"It burns," I groaned weakly, "Everything....burns..."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Be Careful What You Wish For

Too-hot arms were surrounding me and cradling me into a too-hot chest. The added heat did nothing to ease the burning that had already set my body on fire, but my throat burned too badly to voice a complaint. I blinked my eyes open then and saw my dads face looking forward as he held me in his arms. He seemed to be running, which would explain the jarring that had woke me from unconsciousness, and the unconsciousness explained why my mind was so clouded. My brain was having trouble making sense of anything except for the fact that my blood seemed to be boiling and cooking all of my organs inside the Caleb-kettle that my body had turned into, but the part of my brain that could still make those observations, noticed that I could see my dad's face in crystal-clear-clarity despite the darkness of the woods. I looked past him then at the trees that were flying past us in unusually fine detail. Instead of the green-blur that I was used to seeing when speeding past the trees in my car, I could see the definition of every branch and every vein on every leaf. I felt nauseous then, and squeezed my eyes shut tight as I groaned into Jacob's shoulder.

"Hold on, Caleb," he said but his voice was too loud and it hurt my ears, "We're almost there, kid."

I winced from the sound of his voice and wished I could close my ears as easily as I could close my eyes. Apparently, my eyes weren't the only sensory to sharpen, but still, I had almost missed what he had said. _We're almost there? Where are we going? _Maybe he had told me but I had been too out-of-it to notice. It was very possible that I had missed several things, like: _When did he pick me up?_ The part of me that would have never OK'd it, wanted to protest, but this new part of me, the part that was pathetically writhing in his arms from the constant burning...said nothing.

I don't know how long he ran carrying me, but at some point, the force of the wind that had blown against us as he ran died down until I could no longer feel the sting of it on my skin. It was cruel that, in spite of the fire that was already consuming me from the inside out, even the wind could cause me pain. Suddenly, I could see an illumination of white light from behind my closed eyelids as I felt my body being gently laid down on something much cooler and softer than my previous supporter. I heard a cacophony of loud voices at that same moment, and, between the white light, the burning, and the piercing sounds that were in-danger of rupturing my ear drums, I closed my eyes tighter wanting to block it all out.

"He said everything burns," I recognized Jacob's voice through the numerous other voices and I pushed my self deeper into the cool, softness of, what felt like, the black leather couch. My ear was pressed against the leather and it helped to muffle the voices...a little

"Transformation," I heard the word repeated several times through a conversation I was trying to tune out. It was used with different emphasis. Sometimes the word sounded certain. Sometimes it was spoken in disbelief. _Transformation!?_ _Am I becoming a vampire!?_

"No," a familiar voice seemed to answer my thought and I realized it could only be Edward, "There is no taint of venom in your blood, Caleb. Your blood simply has the same unique smell that it has always possessed. We're not sure what's happening."

I groaned as I listened to his words. It was just unnecessary noise that explained nothing about what was happening to me, and every noise seemed to hurt me more. It was my instant reaction then to give some smart-ass comment. But, I was too paralyzed by the burning pain to do anything.

"We have a theory," Edward spoke quickly in a lower tone as if he knew the effect that that sound was having on me.

He probably did, but I cringed anyway. I had my own theory. All those years of self-pity, wishing I was more like my family and thinking immortality was so great, came back to haunt me now and prove me wrong. _The pain wasn't worth it. _Weakly, I lifted up my head to turn it and then laid my other cheek against the coolness of the couch. It felt good but it didn't stop the burning.

"Let's hear that theory," Jacob demanded loudly and the sounded reverberated in my ears creating strong pulsations in my head that felt powerful enough to split it in two.

I didn't want to hear the theory. I couldn't stand the noise. My body was having a bad reaction to this damn super-human sensory-thing. Everything was so loud that it started to make me angry. I wanted to yell at them to "shut-up" but I didn't know if my body had enough strength to exert the force necessary to yell! The anger grew then, and I started to shake. My teeth which had been clenched, chattered together from the vibrations my body was producing, but miraculously, the burning started to ebb. With each quiver the fire seemed to die down as if the animal inside of me was fighting back whatever trace of venom my mother's DNA had supplied me with. The burning didn't go away completely, though, but the shaking didn't cause a giant wolf to explode from my body either.

"Does your theory cover _this_," Jacob yelled and I felt him move to my side, identifiable from the heat he put off.

"Interesting," I immediately recognized Carlisle 's voice as he remarked on my condition as if I was some sort experiment he had been prodding for a reaction.

_Interesting!? This is interesting to him!? _That pissed me off and I shook more violently causing the couch to move along with me. I opened my eyes then to look for Carlisle. My vision was just as sharp as it had been in the woods and I looked past a kneeling Jacob to see Carlisle standing a few feet behind him. My entire vampire family, minus Nessie, was there, but their combined detail and the light that glowed all around them was too much to bare. I shut my eyes.

"It's as if his body is at war with itself," Carlisle spoke again, "Vampires and wolves being natural enemies, the two _together_, seem incompatible."

A laugh followed Carlisle's speech and the high-pitched sound of it felt like someone had shoved two well-sharpened pencils through my ears.

"I always knew that your 'imprinting' on Nessie had to be a fluke," Rosalie remarked, no doubt, directing it at Jacob, and I shook a little harder at the mention of "imprinting.

Jacob growled, "Shut up, blondie! That's not what Carlisle meant!"

The loud rumble of his shouts rumbled around my head as if the insides of my ears were experiencing a thunder storm. I pressed my shaking palms harder to my shaking head, but the talking began...again. _Did none of them care!?_

"Keep your voices down," Edward whispered defensively, "His ears are very sensitive to the sound."

The whispering helped, but, the combination of the burning and the shaking left me weak and I was angered by it. Carlisle had said that my body was at war with itself. _Well, how long would this battle last?_ A morbid thought of _forever_, creeped into my mind, and I felt helpless. The situation seemed hopeless and I thought if I had enough strength to move I might put an end to it myself... A wave of _serenity_ immediately washed over me then, and thwarted that thought. I knew it had been Jasper, but his power was useless against the anger I felt. The anger had become more than just raw-emotion, it was like a physical condition now, like a state of being, and my body was struggling to fight this angry war. The wolf in me was trying to destroy the vampire, and, the vampire in me was thinking: self-preservation. And, the human? He was caught in the crossfire getting the shit kicked-out-of-him by the wolf and the vampire...

"What can we do, Carlisle," Jacob's whispers sounded desperate, "What's going to happen to him?"

I listened intently, curious to hear the answers myself as I continued to shake and burn from my roost on the couch. Then, I heard Carlisle sigh and the sound of it didn't give me much hope.

"His body is trying to transition between two opposing forces," Carlisle whispered, "I'm afraid some sort of neutral ground will have to be founded before the transition is complete. We simply have to wait and see. It's like with organ transplants. The new organ might not always be compatible and the body will reject it. So Anti-Rejection drugs are prescribed. Unfortunately, there is no Anti-Rejection drug for vampire-wolf incompatibility. We just have to wait."

It was as bad as I thought. _Neutral ground? _Maybe that's why I had been human for so long. Maybe that _was_ my neutral ground, and now, I was just shit-out-of-luck. I remembered watching an organ transplant procedure once before of T.V. and the Anti-Rejection drugs didn't even work for the poor guy. I felt doomed and alone as I continued to shake. _How can my body keep this up with out shaking me apart?_ I was tired and scared but the anger still reigned supreme. I had an urge to ask for something even though part of me felt pathetic and weak and _cliché_ for it. But, mom's could always make the bad a little better..._ Right?_

"Mom," I spoke and the sound came out raspy and felt like burning sandpaper rubbing against the lining of my throat.

"She figured that you would want her to stay with Amy instead of," my dad's whisper trailed off as he tried to sooth me by rubbing my shaking shoulder instead of finishing his thought, but, I could _still_ imagine what he was going to say.

I opened my eyes and searched until I found his. My face tensed up and my jaw tightened as I stared into his eyes. _Amy._ _Eli. _The memories had had enough time to sit and marinate deep inside my mind that a great fury washed over me upon remembering it, and it snuffed-out the flames and everything else that was weakening me. The pain had temporarily made me forget all about what had actually set it in motion, but now, I remembered... Eli had imprinted on my girlfriend. He was 21. She was 17. _Hmph, wait til' Amy's dad finds out that her "new" boyfriend is old enough to buy her beer. Yeah, that should go over REAL well, but fucking Eli deserves anything Mr. Johnson dishes out... _I growled and released my hands from over my ears then as I clawed into the couch with my fingers. If I was being honest with myself, what pissed me off the most about the whole imprinting thing was the fact that I couldn't do anything about it. Everyone knew that you should _never _interfere with an imprint. It would be like preventing the procession of the species or some shit. _Oh no, we wouldn't want to deprive the world of another fucking shape-shifter who's capable of imprinting, and thus, screwing-over someone else's life!!_ At that thought, I shook so hard that I could hear the couch dancing on its legs as it thumped the floor.

"If he's going to turn into one of those dogs now, we should take him outside," Rosalie suggested loudly, but this time, it wasn't the sound that pissed me off.

It was her cold-uncaring tone as she said the words "one of those dogs" that had my body shaking in anger for other reasons. _One of those dogs!? Was that all I would be to her!? _I felt my skin heating up then, burning a trail up my spine, and spreading through my limbs.

"Or at least, put him somewhere where he can't break anything," Emmett added.

_Et tu, Emmett? Would they just build me a dog house and keep me out back from now on!? _I growled through my teeth as I listened to the voices bicker over what to do with me.

"We can afford to replace anything he breaks," Alice defended.

They continued with their bickering, but not all of the voices that I heard belonged to my family. I heard new voices and my head shot up as I looked around the room frantically, but there were no new bodies in the room to account for them. _Was I going crazy?_ I realized then that the new voices were resonating from inside my head. _Oh shit, I am going crazy! I hear voices in my head like Edward!_ It took me a moment to recognize what I was hearing though because it came in and out of focus. But, it wasn't the same as what Edward described and it wasn't some effect of my electric touch. No, _this_ was different, and I had a rising suspicion that I knew what it was. Two distinct voices were carrying on a conversation in my head and I listened against my better judgment...

_Man, tell it to someone who cares!_

_It's not my fault! You know none of us can control it when it happens! It's the wolf! The wolf controls it, not me!_

_Yeah, yeah. Whatever makes you feel better about yourself for imprinting on someone else's girlfriend._

Recognition hit me then like a cartoon-anvil being dropped from a sixth story window on to my head, only, this was no cartoon. This was _my_ fucking reality. I could hear the pack and I wasn't even a wolf.

"No, no, no, no, no" I yelled, repeating it over and over as my hands reached up to claw at my head instead of at the couch.

"Caleb, what's wrong?"

I didn't even care who it was that asked me. Aside from the new voices in my head, there was a new pain too. I ached and hurt all over but it wasn't the same kind of pain that the burning had caused. No, it was different. It was like growing pains.

"He can hear the packs thoughts."

Hearing those words spoke aloud, and hence, confirming that it was true, sent my rage spiraling to new heights. Suddenly, my bones felt like they were shifting and my muscles throbbed against my skin, making it feel tight as if they were growing with each pulsating shake. I heard the couch creaking beneath me then as I began to shake more violently than I ever had before. I gripped the couch with my hand and noticed how even the veins appeared more prominent than usual as I dug my fingers into the leather. I watched my hand shake so fast then that it became a blur _even_ to my new super-enhanced sight. I growled loudly and closed my eyes tight as I felt pressure building up under my skin, like I was being over-inflated with air, and at any moment I'd pop like a balloon! I yelled out as there was a painful push at my too-tight skin and I collapsed on the couch, spent, as the release came and all the pressure that had built up under my skin _exploded_ from my body. The explosion, however, didn't send little pieces of me all over the room like a popped balloon would. No, I was still breathing, in-one-piece, and I felt better than I had in several hours...

There was no burning, no loud unbearable sounds, and no shaking. The only thing that remained were the pack voices inside of my head, but they were quickly pushed to the back of my mind when I heard my families "gasps". _Gasps!? _I raised my head up and opened my eyes to look up at the faces of my "gasping" family members. I saw my dad's face first and he was grinning from ear to ear to the point that I thought his face might horizontally rip. _What's he so happy about? _I then realized that he was also shorter than the last time I looked at him. _Huh?_ I pushed my arms forward as if I was stretching after a nap. Upon doing so I heard a ripping sound and my arms were engulfed in soft, plushy stuff. _What the hell? _I tried to push myself up out of the plushy stuff then, but the moment I did, I heard a terrible, loud creaking sound and the couch gave out beneath me.

"Well...I guess were getting a new couch," Emmett chuckled and I looked from him to Esme, wincing, as I excepted to see her dismay.

But, instead, she just gave me her most sincere smile. My other family members looked at me with mixed expressions on their faces. Carlisle looked contented. Bella looked a little worried and she kept looking from Jacob to Edward as if she was waiting for them to do something. A corner of Edward's mouth curved up in amusement as I turned my gaze to him and he raised his eye brows at me expectantly. Alice, Jasper, and Emmett were all smiling, but Rosalie pursed her lips and turned her nose up to me as if I were...

I quickly looked away then and gazed down at the remains of the couch I had destroyed. The white stuffing was sticking out of the couch from where the leather had been ripped apart, and two red-brown _paws_, not hands, were sticking in it!!

"Holy shit," I meant to yell out, but the words were replaced by an unfamiliar "yelp".

I looked back at my family in disbelief and then down to the paws and then back up at my family again and then... I seemed to wobble a little on all fours just before the floor came up to meet my face and everything went black.


	7. Chapter 7

**CREDIT: quote by Price Pritchett**

* * *

Chapter 7: Ch-ch-changes

A man once said that "change always comes bearing gifts", but he forgot to mention that not all gifts are good ones...

The sun was shinning warmly on my face. It poured into my room from the large floor-to-ceiling window, spilling white light everywhere, and burning red behind my shut eyelids. I groaned loudly from the brightness and rolled over on to my stomach to bury my face in a pillow.

"_Alright. Who's the asshole that opened the curtains,"_ I thought as I stretched my arms out across the mattress and tried to grab for a handful of the bottom sheet, but I grabbed at air instead. _Huh?_

My head slowly rose from the pillow as I looked with squinting eyes towards one of my hands. Either my bed had shrunk or I had gotten longer, but I was still too half-asleep to know which it was. My head fell back into the pillow with a soft thud as I groaned about my bed being too small for my appendages. Every morning, during those first few seconds that I regained consciousness my brain functioned similar to that of club wielding caveman. I grunted and groaned and I was totally ignorant of everything except my immediate present. That ignorance only lasted a few seconds...

My eyes shot wide open as I flipped over in my bed and sat up, suddenly remembering everything. I rubbed at my face vigorously with my hands, surprised that I felt skin there instead of fur, like there had been when I passed out.

"_Was I dreaming," _I wondered briefly.

But then, no, it couldn't be. A dream couldn't account for why I was suddenly hyper aware of all the sounds around me, like the sound of bare feet slapping against the wooden floorboards in the living room and then pounding the steps as they ascended the stairs. I turned to face the doorway as every fiber in my body buzzed with the awareness that someone was coming.

"CALEB," my mother yelled as she flew through the doorway and then pounced on my bed with her arms open.

Her small body crashed into mine as she wrapped her arms tight around me and laid her head on my shoulder. As she touched me she projected her feelings into me of just how sorry she was that she hadn't been there when I phased, but she had been explaining "everything" to Amy. I gently pushed her away, not wanting to think of Amy, and Nessie nodded in understanding. She looked me over for a moment until it reached that level of "uncomfortable" and then my eyes grew wide. I suddenly remembered the one major downside of phasing… _No clothes._ In one swift moment, I pulled the sheet in a bunch around me with such a force that it caused Nessie to roll-off the side of the bed. My face heated up as I looked down at the floor to see my flustered-looking mom.

"You're stronger _too_, I see," she said with a smile as she bounced back on to her feet.

"'Too'?" I repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes! Just look at you," she said in amazement as she came at me with her hands again. I quickly pulled the sheet closer around me.

Nessie put the palms of her hands on each side of my face then and projected what she was seeing into my mind. At first the image was just like any other bad morning that I would wake up with bed-head, but as I looked closer I could see a difference. There was a subtle hardening to the features of my face, a slight aging as if I had grown-up over night. And I had! The once wiry muscles in my arms were more rounded and defined under the light-russet color of my skin. But it was my skin that showed the most difference. As the early morning sun filtered in through the window my skin seemed to glow. It didn't sparkle like a vampire's, but it had the subtle glow of Nessie's. I shook her hands off of my face then and stared down at my own. I poked a finger in my arm and noted that it was tougher, hard almost. I narrowed my eyebrows and slowly raised my head to look up at Nessie.

"What else do I have in common with you," I asked with a swallow as I wondered if my eating habits had changed.

Nessie didn't answer. There was a shout of voices in the distance and she turned towards the window. I followed her gaze and adjusted my ears to the sound that was coming from somewhere in the woods. I could hear a familiar voice saying something about "imprinting" and I instantly bristled from the word. Nessie spun around and wrapped her hand firmly around my arm trying to calm me as I shook, but it didn't work. "Imprinting" had never been a welcome topic with me to begin with, but now, just the drop of the word could have me exploding into a wolf faster than you could say—

"CALEB STOP!" Nessie yelled after me as I jumped for the unlatched window, turning over furniture in the process from my enormous size.

I bent my head down as I pushed it against the junction and sent the two window panes flying open like big shudders. There was an immediate drop-off after that, and I panicked for a brief moment until my paws hit the ground, soundly, with a thud. I didn't take a moment to marvel at my new found strength as I wondered why in the hell someone would want to have a conversation in the middle of the woods! I took off running then, using my senses to guide me as if this whole being-a-wolf thing was nothing new. Not only could I smell that there were people in the woods, but I could hear them well enough now that I could distinguish between their voices. And the first full sentence I heard, surprisingly, was from Edward…

"There is no longer a little voice in the back of their mind reminding them that _we_ are the enemy."

"Just because we don't see _you_ as the enemy, doesn't make _us_ friends, or mean that it changes our duty to our tribe," the voice of old Sam Uley grumbled and I stopped in my tracks.

My spine stiffened and I sniffed at the air as I tried to pick up Eli's scent. I couldn't distinguish between people's scents yet, but if Sam was smart he will have left his son at home, or else he'd be carrying him there in pieces! I took off running again.

"Of course we're not friends," came Emmett's booming voice, "If I wanted a friend that stunk like a dog; I'd buy one!"

The vibrations of Emmett's laughter seemed to shake the bark off the trees around me, and I knew I was close. I slowed down to a trot as I zigzagged through the last few trees that would lead me to them. I stepped into the clearing that was filled with 3 vampires and 4 tribesmen, and their 7 pairs of eyes suddenly turned on me. Each man seemed to wear the same sort of weary expression except for a smiling Emmett, and Josh, who ran off into the cover of the trees the second he saw me. I huffed out a breath of air through my snout and set my tail on the ground as I looked to Edward in hopes of an explanation. _What's going on?_

"It seems that Quileute Legend is being rewritten now that the wolves' mortal enemy is one of their own."

I blinked. _What? _I felt the urge to phase back just so I could ask someone to explain whatever the hell Edward just said. But, no sooner had I considered it that a strange static sound buzzed inside of my head and I was aware that I wasn't alone.

_Caleb, LOOK, you're a wolf who is part vampire! You are one of us. So, now, vampires are sort of...one of us. When you phased something changed._

Josh's familiar voice resonated inside my head as he trotted back into the clearing with his ears straight and alert as he stared at me with an intense gaze. So many questions ran through my mind as I processed his words, but none were as loud as—_what changed?_

"Josh, show him what happened," Edward suggested.

Josh replayed the events in his mind that led-up to the moment of the "change". I could feel what he felt in that moment as he patrolled the woods with Seth and…Eli. A threatening snarl rose out of my throat then and Josh quickly made a point to skip-over certain parts…

I could feel Seth's and Josh's anxiety as they paced the perimeter of my house. They were both worried about what was happening to me, and yet, equally pissed off at what had started it. I could hear the voices of my family from inside my house and my own pained voice that had the two wolves cringing as they paced the ground in crouched positions. Their bodies went tense as I belted out a deep guttural yell. And then, an explosion happened! But the explosion they had felt was different from the one that made me go-wolf. The explosion was electric and it buzzed through their nervous systems, coming over them in waves and causing their fur to stand on end. The power of the energy surge nearly knocked them off their paws and made their legs wobble. Seth and Josh caught their balance and shook-out their fur as they tried to shake off the electricity that still tingled beneath their skin. The two wolves stared at each other for a moment in total confusion, having temporarily forgotten what was going on, but they both, immediately, realized that something felt different. It felt as if a load had been lifted, but yet, they no longer felt driven by a purpose...

_Didn't understand it until I saw the Cullen's. _Josh added with an inner laugh.

"Yes," Edward agreed as a corner of his mouth curved up into a half-smile, "After he and Seth told us about their experience, Josh realized that he had temporarily forgotten that we were even vampires."

_The SMELL reminded me._ Josh's inner-laughter continued as he panted in a sort of wolf-grin. _But, it's not as strong as it used to be. Weird, huh?_

_Very weird. _I agreed even though the wolves and vampires didn't smell bad to me anyway.

"Yeah," Seth added as he looked at Edward, "My skin didn't even tingle like usual when I first sensed you."

Jasper nodded at Seth and the movement caught my eye.

"There was always a part of the wolves that remained guarded around us, no matter how small that part was. Even Seth, who was more comfortable around us than most felt it, but not anymore."

I stared down at the foliage that was sticking out from underneath my paws as I tried to process all this new information. I lifted my head back up then and my eyes zeroed-in on my dad as I wondered how or if he had been affected. _Did the entire pack feel it?_

Edward told the others what I was asking and Jacob met my gaze with a smirk.

"Pup, that line between me and the vampires disappeared 32 years ago when your mom was born"—I cringed—"As for the rest of these guys," Jacob paused as he looked from Josh to Seth and then to Sam, "They just got their crash course in 21st century wolf-vampire politics: bloodsuckers are not the enemy"—Jacob snorted—"Our ancestors are probably turning in their graves."

Sam scowled at Jacob, causing the wrinkles in his face to deepen.

"Not ALL of them are our enemy," Sam corrected, making it pretty obvious by his tone that he had felt it too, even though he no longer phased, "But this doesn't change the way we do things here."

_Well, what does it change? _I wondered as I looked around at all of the men, but neither Edward or Josh paid my question any attention.

"Leah still isn't answering her phone," Seth spoke suddenly and then tucked his phone back into the pocket of his shorts as he looked at Jacob.

Jacob sighed in frustration and shook his head.

"Go see what her problem is, will you?"

Seth took off running into the trees then and the others in the clearing started to disburse too.

"This changes nothing," Sam grumbled before he turned and walked his way home.

My lip curled up over my teeth as I watched him walk away and I quickly decided that being a stupid asshole must be hereditary in the Uley family. If I knew one thing…I knew that _change _didn't happen for "nothing".

"Well, this meeting was real uneventful," Emmett complained with a frown and then shot-off like a rocket through the trees.

Edward and Jasper shared an amused look and then followed after him. I glanced between Jacob and Josh, who were all that was left in the clearing.

"You hungry, kid," Jacob asked as he crossed his arms over his chest, "We're grilling steak."

My ears perked up at the mention of steak and that was enough to make my dad notice and grin.

_Here! _Josh said and then bent his head around to his hind leg to untie the leather cord with his teeth. He pulled out a pair of denim cut-offs and flung his head in my direction, releasing the shorts so they'd land at my paws.

_You could probably use these._

_What about you? _I asked as I stared down at the cut-offs.

_Ah, don't worry about me. I'VE done this before._

I could almost see Josh smiling in my head as he rubbed-in the fact that I was an amateur at this whole being-a-wolf thing. I growled in playful warning and Josh turned and high-tailed it out of the clearing.

Jacob sighed then and wrapped his right hand over his left fist as he cracked his knuckles.

"First," he said as he took two long strides in my direction, "Let's work on getting you back on two legs..."

* * *

I pulled at the waistband of Josh's cut-offs, trying to loosen them up, but it was a no-go. It was like I was wearing a pair of fucking tights; they snapped right back into place when I tugged on them. Jacob had already gone into the house so I didn't want to yell for him, and then have everyone else hear that I needed a pair of pants. It would be just another opportunity for a joke! I shrugged my shoulders and just sucked it up as I walked forward. As I walked up the porch steps I was very aware of the tight denim cut-offs that felt even tighter as I climbed. I puffed-out my cheeks and blew the air from my lungs then as I opened the front door. I had sensed the others in the house long before I entered, so I wasn't surprise when Emmett passed in front of the threshold. He came to an abrupt stop and eyed my up and down while giving a long whistle. I clenched my fists at my sides as I glared at him.

"You look like one of those shirt-less Abercrombie and Fitch models," Emmett laughed.

The grip on my fists relaxed, "Aber-what?"

Emmett shook his head and waved me off, "Never mind. They went out of business before you were born."

I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath as I stepped towards the staircase, but then stopped short!

A smell wafted up to my nose and I froze were I stood. My nose wasn't the only part of me that acknowledged the smell, my stomach did too, and it growled with a ferocity that I probably couldn't match in wolf-form. I ignored Emmett, who was staring even harder at me now, as I followed the scent. The smell led me through the living room, hypnotizing me with such a mouthwatering fragrance that I was distracted from noticing the presence of my other family members. I followed the smell blindly as if the aroma had become a solid form that grabbed me up by my nostrils and floated back on air as it pulled me towards its source. My feet stopped when my toes brushed against something hard and solid and I looked down at the kitchen counter that sat before me. A large platter of bloody t-bone steaks sat out on the counter top waiting to be marinated. My eyes grew wide and I took a step back from the appetizingly-smelling raw meat as my stomach growled in protest.

"Esme picked them up this morning," Carlisle said from behind me with a hint of pride in his voice, "Freshest meat in all of Washington."

I gulped and nodded in agreement. _No kidding._

I felt a moment of panic then and I realized that I had to check something... I flew over to the kitchen cabinet that held the pickles and jerked the cabinet door open. I pulled down the jar, ignoring my family's questions, and forgetting my own strength as I twisted the lid that was usually closed too tight. A crash and a splash sounded in the kitchen as the pickle jar and its contents shattered to the floor. I managed to catch one pickle in the air before it fell to the ground, but I caught the smell first. The salty, soury smell coming from the mess on the floor all but gagged me. With a frown, I looked at the pickle in my hand and tried to convince myself that it was just my ferocious hunger making me feel nauseous, NOT the pickles! I took a bite then and the moment the taste of pickle touched my tongue I spit the chunk out on the floor. _Shit!_

"Ca-leb," Esme scolded from behind and I realized for the first time that she had been in the kitchen all along.

I gave a barely audible "sorry" as I stared resentfully at the mess on the floor for a moment. I then pulled the trashcan over to the mess and scooped up the broken glass into my hand, fisting it, as if it were shreds of paper instead of shards of glass. I threw away the pickles and mopped up the pickle juice with a paper towel while trying to control my gag reflex. I then put the trashcan away but the salty-soury smell still clung to the air.

"Dig in, pup," Jacob said as he walked past me and laid a platter full of grilled steaks on the counter next to the raw ones.

I stared at the steam rising off of the simmering hot steaks. The smell coming from them was bland in comparison to the uncooked meat that was saturated in blood. I walked over to the platters of meat and stared back and forth between the two.

"Are you feeling alright," Carlisle asked, concern heavily evident in his voice.

"No," I said, shaking my head as I stared down at the bloody steaks, "I'm so hungry I think I could eat a whole cow…raw."

Jacob laughed, "You probably could."

I looked up to meet Carlisle's gaze and then shifted my eyes to Jacob's.

"No. I mean, I REALLY think I could eat a cow...raw."

I watched as both of their eyes, simultaneously, lowered to the plate of bloody meat, and then my eyes did too. A thought occurred to me in that moment as I stared down at the red blood that puddled around the steaks.

"If I'm craving this," I paused as I pointed a finger to the bloody meat, "Will I crave human blood?"

I was afraid of what it would mean if I did. I was afraid of going to school, and instead of seeing people...all I saw was a buffet! I swallowed hard at the thought as I looked between Carlisle and Jacob.

"Anything is possible, Caleb, but it doesn't seem very likely," Carlisle began, "The smell of Jacob's blood doesn't appeal to you, does it?"

I squinched up my nose in disgust as I looked at my dad, "No."

"Good. That is a fairly positive sign that you won't crave blood, but we will perform a few tests to see what your sustenance needs are," Carlilse said with his sincerest smile.

I nodded.

"Worst case scenario," Jacob added, "You'll just be eating raw animals from now on."

I frowned as I thought about all the foods I'd be giving up. I looked back at the cooked steak then and decided that, maybe, it wouldn't taste too bad. I grabbed a plate from off the counter top along with a knife and a fork. I stabbed one of the cooked steaks with a fork and stuck it on my plate.

"Thanks for the steak, Esme," I said with a poor attempt of a smile as I turned to leave the kitchen, "I think I'll take this to my room."

As I turned around I noticed for the first time that all of my family was crowded around the living room, staring at me. They all wore a mixture of different expressions on their faces but they didn't say a word as I moved past them. _Hell, they even cleared a path!_ I trudged up the staircase carefully and looked behind myself once to see if anyone was watching or following. No one was. I sighed in relief as I entered my room and then gently closed the door with my free hand. I sat the plate of steak down on my dresser as I walked towards the floor-to-ceiling window that was closed again. The sun was setting and the light that came pouring through the window was nearly blinding. I reached out to pull the curtains closed but a familiar buzzing sound stopped me.

I looked over my shoulder as I watched my cell phone slid across the night stand as it vibrated for a second time. I slowly turned my head back to the window and stared directly into the blinding sun for a moment. I had a feeling that I knew who was causing my phone to vibrate and part of me never wanted to find out "why". But, the other part... I quickly pulled the curtains closed and then reached for the phone on the night stand. Once I held it in my hand, I immediately pressed the button that would light-up the screen. It was a message from Amy. I took a deep breath before I pressed the button that would display her message and then...

_Caleb, this stuff is 2 crazy 4 me. I don't think we should b friends nemore. Plz understand. Sry._

I gripped the phone tight in my hand and tried to calm the vibrations that began in my chest and started spreading through my limbs. I was angry from the combination of being hurt by a fucking text message and almost feeling like she was justified for doing it. I had lied to her all along and now she knew it. It was understandable that she didn't want to be friends with a liar, but this "crazy" stuff wasn't over for her. After all, her fucking soul-mate could turn into a fucking wolf! The phone in my hand cracked under the pressure of my grip as I thought of imprinting. I looked down at my hand as I remembered the phone and loosened-up only to have a piece of it fall to the ground. _Shhhiiittt!_ I angrily threw the broken phone hard across the room. Little pieces scattered everywhere and one piece even bounced up on to the plate of steak.

I angrily crossed the room to where I had left the plate and I flicked the piece of phone off of it with a finger. The steak was still warm. I could feel heat radiating from it. I grabbed the fork and knife, cut off a piece of meat, and quickly stuck it in my mouth. The taste wasn't as good as it used to be, I noted, but at least it didn't gag me like the pickle had. I cut off another bite and saw that the steak was a little pink in the middle. But, it was only a "little" pink, and see, that right there was the problem. The damn steak was _too_ over cooked! It occurred to me as I forced myself to stick another piece in my mouth that _this _was probably the worst part of all the changes. I knew that relationships had the tendency to come and go, that politics (even of the wolf-vampire variety) could change, but usually _food_ could always be counted on as a constant. Not anymore. I put down the fork and knife as I stared through a small gap in the curtain to the fading light outside. I knew that there would be more changes to come...


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: She Gets What She Wants

The flat screen flashed with images from a movie I was only half paying attention to. My family had given me a week off of school so I could recover from a classic case of "mono". I laughed humorously to myself at the fact that mono was also called "the kissing disease". It was pretty damn ironic that a guy who had very recently warded off kissing would feign an illness that had a nickname like that. But the whole mono thing was a useless excuse anyway. I was NEVER going back to Forks high school. Imprinting was an ever looming possibility for me now, and there were fertile girls swarming all over that place! I would not be another pack statistic! I WOULD not! But, as I watched a girl on the flat screen try to run away from some psycho killer, I realized that _girls_ were everywhere. I frowned as I considered that… _Hell, I just won't ever leave the house again…_

"Oh yes you will," my 6-foot-2, sparkly version of Jiminy Cricket suddenly spoke.

I leaned my head back on the new couch so I could look up at the person standing behind it. He looked down at me with his gold eyes and his half-smile. I looked back at the flat screen with a scowl on my face and continued thinking to myself how I WOULD NOT be going back to school. NO MATTER WHAT.

"Even if I have to walk you in, myself," he added and I could hear the amusement in his voice, "You _will _be going."

I scoffed at his threat and imagined the trouble he'd have trying to get _me_ to go to school. A corner of my mouth curved up into his same half-smile as I imagined him tugging wolf-me by my tail into my classroom.

He chuckled.

"It would never come to that. All I would need is a little brute force and some coercion from Jasper."

I sighed. I could never win in this family!

"Just sign me up at an all-boys-school or a monastery or something. Anywhere where's there's no girls."

Edward walked from behind the couch and stopped in front of me, blocking the flat screen. I scooted over so I could see it again but he just followed my movement.

"WHAT!" I yelled, throwing my hands up in the air. "Why don't you go back to doing whatever you were doing before you started eavesdropping on my mind."

I looked up at him with angry eyes but he kept his face straight.

"I don't think you really want to alienate yourself from girls."

"Oh yeah! Well, I guess you weren't listening too good!" _I don't want to be around ANY girls! I can't look at them now without possibly imprinting on one of them!_

"That's just your excuse," Edward said as he crossed his arms and looked down at me humorously with a raised eyebrow, "You're only afraid of seeing one girl, but you shouldn't let that one girl stop you from living your life…or leaving the couch."

I rolled my eyes.

"I like the couch and _school_ isn't exactly 'living'. Besides, there's nothing they can teach me that I don't already know. It's just high school, Gramps. If you're worried about me not graduating I can always get my GED online."

As I said "GED" Edward glared at me with a look that was so menacingly that I nearly considered visiting Forks high school right then.

"Caleb," he said through his teeth, "You _will _go to school on Monday."

I sighed in defeat and sunk lower into the couch. The idea of vampires and werewolves going to school was just..._stupid_. It was such a waste. Why sit in a classroom and solve equations when you could be out in the world playing Superman? Ha. Who was I kidding? I was perfectly content to just stay at home and watch slasher movies for the rest of my life. With that thought, Edward moved out of my path and took a step back so he could see the flat screen. I watched as the hooded killer who was wielding a scythe, hacked his way through a corn field in search of his victim.

Edward groaned.

"Why do you enjoy this type of film," his voice sounded tired and he pinched the bridge of his nose as a tall, black-haired guy, who sort of looked like Eli, got chopped in half with a scythe.

I smiled.

"It makes me feel better."

As I watched the next helpless victim lose their head, I could see Edward, through the corner of my eye, staring down at me in that analytical way of his.

"It's just repressed anger," I shrugged as I stared at the screen, "Jacob won't let me get anywhere near Eli."

Before I could even finish blinking an eye, Edward grabbed the remote control from the couch and pushed the power button.

"Hey!" I complained as the screen went black and I looked to Edward for an explanation.

"Watching violent movies like that is not going to cure your vengeful mentality," Edward lectured me as he threw the remote control back on to the couch.

His expression was so serious that I couldn't help but laugh. He sounded like the host from one of those daytime talk shows that Esme occasionally watched. I snorted.

"Who said anything about wanting a cure? I fully embrace my desire for vengeance."

Edward's humorless face brightened as if a light bulb had suddenly switched-on inside of his head.

"On Monday," he added, his voice thick with confidence, "You will _fully_ embrace school."

I scowled at that, but the determined pounding of feet hitting the floorboards as they neared the living room made me forget all about Edward.

"THAT'S IT," Jacob yelled as he stormed in from the back of the house and snapped his cell phone shut. My mom and dad had been acting sort of…_different_ lately. They weren't all over each other like they had been the entirety of my life. Not that I thought that was a bad thing! It was a really, really good thing! But, I momentarily wondered if it was possibly the reason why Jacob looked so angry.

"Leah hasn't answered anyone's calls, except for Sue's, for over week!" _Oh._

"Perhaps these recent events have brought up bad memories for her," Edward suggested and I narrowed my eyes at his subtle reminder of how the Uley's had a knack for fucking-up people's relationships.

Jacob shrugged his shoulders, "She's been holed-up in her apartment for days. She won't even open her door for Seth."

I felt a little envious at the thought of having my own apartment that I could be "holed-up in". Edward shook his head at me in obvious disapproval and I rolled my eyes.

"_You're one to judge," _I thought as I stared at him, "_Alice says you're the one I get this whole 'brooding' thing from!"_

Edward gave no visible response. I smiled.

"Come on, pup," Jacob said as he moved towards the front of the house, "We're going to Port Angeles."

My smile faded but I pushed myself off the couch in compliance, "Why?"

"Because I'm going to try to get Leah out of her apartment and you're coming with me."

"Oh no he's not," the sing-songy voice of Alice declared as she skipped into the living room, "I'm taking Caleb to Seattle."

"SEATTLE," Jacob and I both yelled in question simultaneously.

"Yes," Alice said as she put on a pair of sunglasses despite there being no sun.

"Look at his clothes," Alice gestured to me with her arm, "His shirt is two sizes too small and that frayed jeans look hasn't been in style for decades."

I looked down at the blue jean cut-offs that I had expertly cut myself and I shrugged my shoulders.

"It was either _this_ or walk around with them over my ankles like I was preparing for a flood."

I grinned, but Alice's mouth didn't even twitch.

"WE are going to Seattle to buy you some tailored clothes," she said with finality.

I looked at Jacob hoping he'd save me by saying that I was going with him...not her. After all, I was _his_ son. Alice couldn't dispute that argument. But, Jacob said nothing. _Traitor._ I blew out a breath of air as I realized that it was up to me to try and save myself from shopping with Alice.

"Maybe some other time," I said as I walked passed her and headed for the stairs, "I still have one more make-up assignment to finish for school."

Alice grabbed the back of my arm and I turned and glared down at her. She tilted her head to the side and smiled up at me.

"Caleb, if you don't come with me, right now, I will take your measurements myself," she said as she pulled out a spool of measuring tape from her purse and unrolled it like a yo-yo.

I shuddered at the thought of her taking my lower body measurements. Alice smiled as if she knew it and then patted me on the shoulder.

"Now go put on your shoes and we'll leave."

I gritted my teeth as I climbed up the stairs, resenting Alice and her magical way of always getting what she wants. I shook my head. So much for never leaving the house again…

* * *

I stretched my arms over my head as I walked through the malls parking lot trying to work out the kinks from the 3 hours of solid driving. Alice didn't make a single stop on the drive over to Seattle, but it was considerably shorter because of it.

"Soo," I drew out the word as I looked at Alice, "how long is this going to take?"

"Oh, I'd say 3 to 4 hours depending on how difficult you make this," Alice said as she walked briskly towards the entrance of the mall with a pep in her step and a smile on her face.

Alice was totally in her element. She was loving this already and we hadn't even stepped inside a store. I glared down at her as I walked at her same pace, biting the inside of my cheek as I wondered what in the hell she was going to put me through.

"Mommy, watch what I can do," a little girl yelled as she jumped up on to a curb and stuck her arms out as she balance-walked across it.

Alice and I both looked in the girls direction and I could tell from the way she wobbled that she would fall. Before her mother's human eyes could catch the girls slip-up, I saw the little girl trip over her own two feet and land knees-first on the ground. I grimaced at the sound of bones hitting concrete and then I froze. Alice froze too. The air had touched the blood that was coming from the little girl's newly skinned knees and I could smell it. Alice looked up at me in surprise as she realized that we had both stopped for the same reason.

"Caleb, are you alright," she asked me as she put her arm through mine and started pulling us towards the sliding glass doors.

I gave a nod as my body moved in compliance with Alice's force, but my mind was reeling from the effect that the blood had on me. I realized immediately that this was the first time I'd been around a normal human since I had first phased. Carlisle had determined that my attraction to blood was more of an instinctual reflex than it was a hunger, but his conclusion gave no explanation for why my throat suddenly felt dry.

"I could use a drink," I said and my voice came out raspy like my vocal cords were rubbing against sand paper.

Alice pulled us inside the mall and we both seemed to take in a deep breath as if I'd been holding mine and as if she actually _needed_ hers.

"I'll buy you some water," Alice said as she headed through a doorway that was labeled for "vending machines".

I was too distracted by the talking electronic billboards that flashed with advertisements and the other shopper's voices to respond to Alice. I tried to focus on hearing just the sounds that were in my immediate area so I could filter-out the ones that weren't. I walked a little further into the mall until I was standing in front of one of the interactive maps that gave a full layout of all the stores. It was easier to turn down the super sensory a few notches if I had one thing to focus on. Otherwise, I was like a kid with ADHD, trying to take in all the sights, sounds and smells at once, and looking like a total nut job in the process.

"HERE," Alice said as she tossed a bottle of water to me and I quickly spun around to catch it. But, maybe I had spun around _too_ quick…

A gasp came from right behind me and I slowly turned to see an elderly woman pressing a hand to her heart as she looked up at me, clearly startled.

"Oh! Ma'am, I'm so sorry," I said as moved towards her with my hand reaching out to clasp her shoulder.

The old woman quickly jerked away from me and pursed her wrinkled face in disgust.

"Don't you touch me, you—hobo!" _Hobo?_

I felt the heat of embarrassment rise in my cheeks as I stared after the old woman who was waddling away from me. But that embarrassment was easily trumped by a duo of teenage girls who made it obvious that they had witnessed the whole thing by giggling.

"Nice shoes," one of the girls said with a laugh as the other one coyly wiggled her fingers at me in passing.

I looked down at my old converses and noticed that the tip of my big toe had worn a hole through my shoe. I swallowed hard and it was like trying to chug down a cup of wet sand. I quickly unscrewed the cap off the water and downed the bottle until it was empty. I sighed. _Much better._

"See," Alice said as she wrapped her small arm around my waist and started leading me deeper into the mall, "I told you that you need new clothes. Imagine what it would be like going to school dressed as you are."

I rolled my eyes. I didn't really care what the people at school thought, but Alice was right...as usual. I could use some new clothes, or some shoes at least…

"Yeah, yeah. You're allllwaaays right. But, it's funny how, you, being a psychic and all, couldn't prepare me for my first day back around normal people," I said as I tossed my empty bottle into a trashcan on passing, "It would've been nice to have avoided that whole scene with the old lady."

"Ca-leb," Alice chidded, "You know I haven't been able to see into your future since you turned into an over-sized mutt!"

I looked around at the people we walked passed, worried that they might have heard what she said, but if they noticed us at all it was only because of the stark contrast of our appearances. Alice looked like a feisty little fairy that had flew off the pages of a fashion magazine. And I looked like a half-Native American...hobo?

"Here we are," Alice sang as we stopped in front of a fancy-French-named clothing store.

I raised an eyebrow as I looked at the formally dressed mannequins and then turned a questioning eye to Alice. _She can't be serious…_

"You do know," I said as I crossed my arms over my chest and stared into the store, "That anything you buy me will probably end up shredded, right?"

Alice's arms went slack at her sides and she glared up at me as if I had overstated something obvious.

"Don't worry, Caleb," Alice's voice was annoyed as she pulled me inside the store, "We'll be buying you _plenty_ of phase-clothes!"

"_Great," _I thought condescendingly as I looked around the store and realized that there wasn't a single casual article of clothing in sight, "_She's gonna drag me into every fucking store in this fucking mall." _

I loudly blew out a breath of air to convey my irritation, but Alice ignored it. She knew she had already won. I was going to get new clothes whether I liked it or not, and any deviations on my part would only make this process longer. I took a deep breath and accepted my fate as a man with a long strip of measuring tape around his neck looked up at us from behind the counter.

"Ah, Ms. Cullen," the man spoke in a heavy French accent as he walked out from behind the counter to kiss her cheeks.

I glared at Alice. This man had been expecting her, and that could only mean one thing… Alice had been planning this! I looked back at the man and noticed he had a pin-filled pincushion sticking in his pocket. I rolled my eyes and sighed a bit too loudly because it caught his attention. The man looked at me. His smile faded and then his eyes grew wide as he took in my attire.

"Oh, Ms. Cullen," he laughed suddenly as he playfully shook a finger at Alice, "You always bring me a challenge."

I narrowed my eyes as I looked between the two smiling fashion-freaks. I suddenly wished I was in Port Angeles beating down Leah's door with my dad. _Hell, anywhere but here!_ Alice flashed me her biggest smile and the twinkle in her golden eyes sparkled from the fact that she was getting just what she wanted… Me in a damn suit! No vampire in the world could hold a candle to the raw-horror that was Alice Cullen. Nothing was more horrible than this…


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Imprinting

I couldn't wipe the stupid grin off my face, not even as the bell that signaled the end of first period rang. All the other kids had instantly got up from their seats at the sound of the bell and then headed off to their next class like they were a bunch of robots who were programmed to do that. I sat in my chair a little bit longer as I watched the androids leave, smiling to myself as some of them still whispered about me. Some of the guys had decided that I was taking steroids while some of the girls were gushing over my "hotness". I rolled my eyes as I stood up from my chair and then looked to the head of the classroom. Even my hard-boiled physics teacher, Ms. Whitfield, had been tripped-up by my attendance today. Or, maybe, she was still just confused by the fact that I been the first student to enter the class. Yeah, it had to be that. Nothing could freak out a teacher more than having her notoriously tardy student be the first to show up. I smiled a little wider as I walked past her desk.

"Have a nice day, Ms. Whitfield."

Her brow twitched with suspicion at my words, but her mouth returned the salutation, "Same to you…Caleb."

It was the first time I had ever heard her call me anything other than "Mr. Black", and if it was possible, my grin grew even wider. I hung my head down as I stepped out into the crowded hallway, trying to hide my damn-over-amused-smile, but the moment I looked up in the direction of my locker my smile immediately faded. I felt my stomach drop to the floor like I had dropped 100 feet down the rails of a speeding roller coaster. My legs stopped moving forward and every muscle in my body froze. Time itself seemed to have stopped, but then sped-up as if someone had grabbed my world with their hand and shook it as if it was nothing but a snow globe. I felt like I was spinning. The students moving past me were just a speeding blur, barely visible swirls of white, but the brown-haired girl who was standing by her locker seemed trapped inside an unmoving time capsule, perfectly preserved, and she was all I could see.

"Caleb's here." Someone whispered and the sound of my own name instantly broke through my figurative snow globe, sending its shattered pieces to the floor.

I blinked back to reality as the brown-haired girl turned slightly to see me. Amy searched over her shoulder until her eyes met mine, and then her head quickly snapped back to face her locker. I could hear her heart pounding. It pumped out nervous-adrenaline and I could sense it as if it was pulsing through my own veins, and maybe it was. I suddenly felt this nagging impulse to go calm her nerves, to comfort her, to touch her. My feet carried me towards her, and even though a voice in the back of my head cursed my damn feet for moving, I didn't stop until I was standing a few feet behind her.

"Hey," I said a little breathlessly as if I had been holding it in the whole way over.

Amy turned around slowly and stared up at me with wide eyes. Her lips parted as if she wanted to say something but she drew in a jagged breath instead. Her exhale stirred up the air between us and I could smell her. I smelled the familiar sweet scent of her shampoo and it triggered a familiar feeling inside of me that made my chest ache. I had to fight the urge to cross my arms over my chest to sooth it, but it wasn't too hard because every nerve in my body tingled with the need to touch her. It took every ounce of self control I had not to be sucked-in by the desire she was putting off. It was strange and a little disorienting but I could sense her desire. It must have been the animal in me because I swear it was working just like an animal putting off pheromones to attract a mate. I was too caught-up in the moment to even wonder why my fucking dad had neglected to mention _that_. Amy wanted me. I could sense it and I didn't even care about how impossible that was. I stared down at her parted lips and my eyes grew heavy-lidded as I suddenly felt myself leaning in...

"CALEB," Amy yelled as she pushed at my chest, but she found I wasn't as movable as I used to be.

I quickly acknowledged that she wanted me away and I took a step back.

"WHAT are you doing," she asked in a harsh whisper as her eyes darted back and forth between me and the crowds of students that were passing by.

I noticed and glanced at the other kids. They stared at us like we were a bad car accident on the side of the road. I sneered at them and maybe even growled a little, but I couldn't be sure. All I was sure of was that, an instance later, Amy was touching me. She grabbed me by my arm and pulled me through the nearest exit that led outside. When she had us hidden away in a place that no one else could see us she dropped my arm like it was hot potato and glanced at her hand as if my skin had burned her...or infected her with something. I crossed my arms over my chest and put some distance between us since that was obviously what she wanted.

"Eli said you understood," she said under her breath as she started to pace.

My eyes widened and then narrowed at the sound of Eli's name rolling off her tongue. It had only been one damn week and she was already calling him by his name! I held my crossed-arms tighter against my chest and clenched my fists as I tried hard not to explode on school grounds. It would be bad news to go-wolf in this place, but luckily, my own morbid curiosity to understand what she meant kept me grounded...

"Understood WHAT," I asked through my teeth.

Amy stared up at me and the space between her eyebrows creased.

"About us, about me and Eli. But, I can see you don't understand. I knew from the way you were looking at me that you didn't and then...and then you tried to kiss me," she pulled a strand of hair behind her ear and stared at the ground, "I can't believe you tried to kiss me."

The hot shivers that had started working their way up my spine at her words "me and Eli", froze at my neck from her shock that I had tried to kiss her, and then they quickly subsided altogether. I gave a dry laugh and stepped closer to her. Her eyes narrowed and she stepped back until she found herself backed against a brick wall.

"A part of you wanted me to kiss you," I said as I took a step closer to her and stared down into her eyes, "Can you believe that?"

My eyes fixed on her neck as she swallowed nervously but she didn't flinch as I moved in to narrow the space between us. I could feel the heat coming off her skin from the way her heart pounded furiously in her chest, causing her blood to heat up. My heart was pounding too, and our combined rhythm made me dizzy. I braced a hand against the brick wall behind her head and leaned my head down until my nose brushed against hers. She shuddered from the contact and I smiled from her reaction as I raised up a hand to cradle her head. My lips were so close to hers that they buzzed with anticipation but they didn't touch. Amy slowly started leaning in to bridge the gap, and I quickly turned her face with my hand until my mouth was positioned over her ear. She gasped in surprise.

"I guess Eli didn't tell you," I whispered with a smile evident in my voice, "We have a way of sensing desire...and part of you...still wants...me."

Amy tried to push me away, unsuccessfully, and that was my cue to move. I took a step back and a corner of my mouth curved-up into a smile as I took-in her flustered face. There was no way she could deny it.

"It's not supposed to be this way," she yelled, "Imprinting works both ways. I'm the only person he sees, and he's the only person I see. That's how it's supposed to work. That's how it worked for Sam and Emily, and..."

I tuned her out from fear of exploding in front of her and tearing off her face the way that Sam nearly had tore off Emily's. I ran a hand through my hair and took some deep breaths as I tried to pretend that she didn't know the names of every fucking couple who had ever imprinted. But, she did.

"It doesn't make any sense! Why would I still have the same feelings for you if he imprinted on me! Eli said I would still care about you, but that I just wouldn't feel the same way...but I do."

_She does! _I tried to see her face so I could tell if she was serious, but she had turned her back to me. I considered what she was saying for a moment, even though imprinting was a sore subject with me, and even though whatever she might have learned about it, in just 1 fucking week, didn't count for shit in my books. Never-the-less, she was right. She shouldn't still feel the same way about me. Or, maybe she only _thought_ that she still felt the same way about me. Well, there was one way to find out for sure...

I reached out my hand towards her and carefully brushed my fingers against her arm. The light touch was enough to tell me what I wanted to know while still emitting a shock to alert her about it. Amy quickly spun around and grasped her arm where I had touched it as if I had stung her. She glared at me and her lip curled up in a sneer.

"What did you just do," she demanded and my eyebrows raised in surprise that she knew to be suspicious of my touch, "Eli told me all about...vampires and their tricks. He even told me about your little vampire trick."

_Tricks? _I rolled my eyes. _Fucking. Eli. "Tricks"? REALLY? _But yeah, that was it. That was what I saw when I touched her. It didn't matter how she felt about me, even though some of what she felt was caused by that whole-vampire-dazzling-thing, she would never want me for long _because _I was part vampire. I started to laugh from the irony of it all and Amy turned to walk away, fuming.

"So that's it, huh," I called after her as she headed back towards the door. Amy stopped walking but she didn't turn around and she didn't say a word.

"When you sent me that text message about how this 'stuff' is too 'crazy' for you...You weren't talking about the part when I turn into a giant wolf. You were talking about the part when I start drinking blood, right," she didn't answer and I took her silence as a confirmation, "So you're cool with having a boyfriend who might accidentally rip your face off with his _claws_, just not the kind that would be tempted to bite you with his _fangs_. Makes sense."

"GOODBYE, Caleb," Amy spat and waved me off with her hand as she walked away.

I watched as she went back inside the school and I wished that her saying "goodbye" would be the end of it, but it wasn't that easy... We still had 2nd period together. I ground my teeth together at that fact and shoved my fists into my pockets to prevent one of them from swinging at the brick wall. I was pretty sure my fist would be fine, but the brick wall...? It was better that I didn't risk it.

The bell had rung a few minutes ago, making Amy and I both late, but _I_ was quickly nearing the "absent" mark. I blew out a breath of air in annoyance and moved a little too quickly back inside the school. No one was around to notice. Everyone was in their designated classrooms like the well-programmed robots that they were. I turned down the hallway and stopped at the door of my 2nd period class. I could hear Amy inside the classroom, detectable from the active beating of her heart in comparison the others resting heart rate. She had no doubt just taken her seat and the teacher had already started his lesson. There was nothing considerate about the way I entered the classroom and I ignored the teacher and everyone's stares as I went to my desk.

"Well! There must be some assembly going on that I don't know about," the teacher spoke in a condescending tone as he looked between me and Amy.

I stared off to the side, not wanting to give the accusing man an excuse. There was nothing worse than a condescending trigonometry teacher and I wasn't in the mood to give him a fair answer.

"Alright, then," he said as if he got the message, "Since everyone is here now, _hopefully_, there will be no more interruptions."

I ignored him as he continued on with his lesson and my eyes wandered their way across the room to where Amy sat. She gripped her pencil tight in her hand as she took note of everything he was saying as if she was so interested in it, but I knew better. It was only an act to play-off the fact that my staring made her uncomfortable. I looked away. I didn't look at her again until lunch...

And lunch was a complete waste of time.

"Uh, hey. Umm, do you mind if we sit here," I looked up from the cardboard quality sandwich that sat on the tray in front of me to the two scrawny, parted-haired kids who stood before me, "'Cus, well, we always sit here…but we can sit somewhere else if you—"

I laughed, not so much from the kid's words but from the nervous beating of his heart. The two acted like I was some all-brawns, no-brains jock who'd yell "SMASH" like the Hulk as I slammed my lunch tray over their heads.

"Sure, sure," I said and the two boys, who _had_ to be freshmen, smiled from ear to ear as they sat down.

I watched as they set-up their food in front of them along with two cartons of milk and 1 game magazine. I cocked an eyebrow at the sight until I heard a familiar laugh that made me turn. My feature presentation had just waltzed into the cafeteria with a teenage girl flanking both of her sides. Amy sat down with them at the table we used to sit at and they laughed at some joke I had only caught the end of. I had a clear view of Amy's face from my table and if I listened hard enough I knew I could filter out all the other conversations so I could just hear hers. This had been the whole point of sitting in this damn cafeteria in the first place. I wanted to know what she was telling her friends. I listened.

"Umm, hey! Are you gonna eat your sandwich?"

My eyes blinked and I looked back down at the lunch-lady special that laid before me. I didn't eat this shit, not before and not now. I was pretty conditioned to eating _raw_ these days and getting pretty damn good at hunting.

"Why?" I asked as looked up from the sandwich to the kid.

He gulped and his expression fell as if he was afraid he had crossed some line by questioning me. I smiled and clarified my question.

"Why? Do you want it?"

The kid shook his head, "No. I've just never seen a guy as big as you have just one little sandwich on his tray that he wasn't even eating." _Shit!_

I quickly racked my brain for a legitimate excuse that I could give for not eating. Both the kids stared at me expectantly.

"Is it a love thing," the kid asked. _What the hell!_

The confused look on my face must have told him that I didn't have a clue what he was talking about because the kid looked over his shoulder at Amy's table. _Oh._

"I saw you looking at that girl," he said as he turned his head back around to see me.

I started fidgeting with the plastic wrap that was wrapped around the piece of shit sandwich. The kid thought I was love sick over Amy. _Pfft!_ I shrugged my shoulders. It was better for him to think _that_ than to suspect that maybe I ate off a "different" menu.

I looked at the kid and he nodded without saying anymore. The other kid that sat across from him had his nose stuck in the game magazine and his eyes lit-up.

"Dude," he yelled as he lowered the magazine from his face, "There making a Fang Wars 2!"

My own eyes lit-up brighter than the kids. A sequel to my favorite vampire/werewolf game was in the works and I didn't even know about it!

"When's it coming out," I demanded to know.

The two kids looked at me with wide eyes.

"_You_…play Fang Wars," the kid with the magazine asked like there was some exclusivity to who could play the damn game.

I rolled my eyes, "The game's not limited to kids who part their hair on the side and drink white milk from a little carton."

The kid with the magazine narrowed his eyes but quickly went back to reading while the other kid gave me a defiant look.

"Oh yeah! Well, we didn't know the game was open to oversized seniors who buy sandwiches they don't even eat and who stare at girls all lunch period!"

The kid with the magazine eyed his ballsy friend as if he had just spoken his last words. The ballsy kid realized it too and stared at me in fear as he swallowed hard.

"Ss-s-sorry," he said as his voice cracked.

I shook my head. _Kids..._

"Don't worry about it," I said with a sigh as I looked between them, "We're cool. I only pick on guys my same size."

The ballsy kid smiled. "You mean there's an actual race of people who come in your size!"

I laughed and looked up as crowds of people started leaving the cafeteria. My eyes met Amy's as I glanced at the passing bodies. She stared at me with a strange look on her face as she examined the kids I was sitting with. My amusement quickly faded from my face then and I looked away from her.

"Thanks for the company guys," I said as I lifted my lunch tray from the table and walked away without waiting for their reply.

Amy was about to walk out of the cafeteria but she glanced over her shoulder looking for me. I caught her eye and then she looked away. I didn't see her again until school was over…

Thank God school was over!

I stared up at the sky as I walked out the entrance of the school and then I stopped. A storm was coming. There had been a few showers today, like always, but I knew that the dark ominous clouds that loomed in the distance would bring more then just a few showers.

"Hey Amy!" A sickeningly familiar voice called across the parking lot and a flame shot up my spine.

My eyes zeroed-in on the source of the call and I saw red as Amy ran over to meet him. I started to shake even though crowds of kids were standing around me, walking passed me as they talked to one another, totally unaware of what was happening to me. Eli's head snapped in my direction as if he could sense it and his eyes widened. I took a step forward, trying hard to reign in the anger that wanted so badly to explode from my body and rip Eli to shreds. I shook from another hot tremor and took another step forward.

"Hey man!" Someone greeted me as they slapped me on the shoulder.

I blinked out of the heated haze I had just been under and looked down to see that damn ballsy kid standing too close to me.

"I have to go." My voice sounded threatening as I spoke and the kids face paled as if he could sense the threat that I currently, truly, was.

I focused on my car and jogged towards it without looking anywhere else. I needed to get away. Fast! I couldn't believe that Eli had the fucking balls to show up here. I couldn't believe that he could get around Amy's dad that easily. But, most of all, I couldn't believe that my own fucking dad would allow it. I gripped the steering wheel a bit too tight and slammed my foot on the accelerator. Jacob had some explaining to do…

* * *

I ignored the finger imprints that I had left in the steering wheel from gripping it too tightly. I really didn't give a fuck what Rosalie would have to say about it. I stormed into the house with a furry that the thunderstorm outside couldn't match. Jacob had done his damnedest to make sure Eli and I never phased at the same time, but he had failed to keep Eli off my territory. Edward and Jasper appeared in front of the staircase as I marched inside and I suddenly felt calm.

"Where's my dad," I asked calmly as I sensed that he wasn't home.

Edward sort of grimaced at the question as if the thought of Jacob's location was cringe-worthy, but his reaction was an answer in itself: _Nessie._ I rolled my eyes.

"You're parents went out," Jasper confirmed my suspicions and his mouth curved up in amusement from sensing mine and Edward's mutual disgust.

"Went out" was codeword for having sex, and it was sort of surprising considering how strange my parents had been acting. They had had their first real argument. Maybe, it was their first argument ever, but now, it seemed that they had made up. _Great. All was right with the world again._ I scowled as I looked between Edward and Jasper. I wasn't a mind-reader or an empath, but I couldn't help but feel that there was something weird going on with my parents...

"Ready for some ball," Emmett's booming voice sounded behind me and I turned around to see him tossing a baseball in the air, "Here's your first chance to see if you can get more hits than me."

"No change, Emmett," Alice chimed in and patted him on the shoulder, "Caleb won't be coming. I have a clear view of how this game will end. There will be no vision-impairing half-breeds in attendance."

Emmett's posture visibly slumped and I then realized that my whole family was decked out in their baseball gear.

"If you change your mind you know where we'll be," Edward said.

I nodded and looked back to flat screen, thinking that I'd rather take my anger out on a fake vampire in a game of Fang Wars than by playing baseball with 8 of them. Small hands gently massaged my shoulders and I turned to see Esme's warm smiling face.

"Do think about joining us. It will be your first real game."

Not even Esme's warmth could turn the cold hard hatred that was welling up inside of me. I said nothing, and one by one the quick sounds of their footfalls disappeared into the distance. Alone, I trailed my hand down the back of the couch as I walked to the other end of it and then stopped. My family definitely knew something that I didn't.

My parents arguing. Jasper trying to calm me down. All of them leaving to play baseball the moment I come home. The damn fucking vampires were trying to cover something up! Then, I thought of Amy and remembered how she still claimed to have feelings for me even though Eli had imprinted on her. _Eli. _My hands shook and I clenched them into tight fists, not wanting to explode in the living room and destroy another couch. Eli deserved to get ass kicked for showing up at my school, and MAN! I wanted to be the one to do it! So bad. I didn't know how much I could handle seeing Amy at school and then having Eli rub their relationship in my face as he picked her up from school—everyday. I wondered how that was working out with her Amy's dad. A fast paced song with a heavy beat blared from the flat screens speakers and I turned my attention to it. People were dancing in a bar with colorful lights flashing around them and they all had a bottle of beer in their hands.

"Coors: Turn it loose," came a voice at the end of the commercial.

I wanted to turn my anger loose. Preferably on Eli, but then I knew there'd be hell to pay. My dad would be pissed. But, he wouldn't have the right to be for keeping me in the dark on whatever was going on between him and Nessie. I ran a hand through my hair and took a deep breathe. My skin still itched with anger and my legs twitched with the need to run. I stared at the flat screen once more and even though the beer commercial was long over I was suddenly very aware of how badly I could use a drink...


	10. Chapter 10

**WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS ALCOHOL ABUSE OF THE SUPERHUMAN-MAGNITUDE AND WOULD THEREFORE BE LETHAL TO NON-SUPERHUMANS. ****AND ALSO, I DO NOT ADVOCATE UNDERAGE DRINKING.**

**Just letting you know...**

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* * *

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Chapter 10: How to Destroy the Wolf-Pack

The beer-stocked shelf towered before me like a colossal shrine to alcoholic beverages. The shelf only loomed an inch or two above my head, but it still made me feel small like I was a 3-foot-nothing little kid standing before the largest candy store in the world. Only, it wasn't a candy store, it wasn't large at all, and it was located in a part of world that most people have never even heard of: Port Angeles, Washington. But, it was my best option as far as liquor stores went. La Push didn't have one, and Forks...well, lets just say that word traveled too damn fast in Forks. I gave a heavy sigh as my eyes skimmed over all the beer labels. There were just so many options...

"Hey kid!" The old, gray-bearded man who sat behind the liquor store counter called to me as I lingered on the beer isle, "Do you need help finding something?"

I grimaced at his words as I looked away from the shelf and then down the long isle towards the front of the store. The old man looked at me from over the top of his glasses with suspicion in his eyes as if he thought I'd try to steal something. Little did he know that that was actually my plan.

"No, thanks," I said, sounding unfriendly.

I looked back to the beer-stocked shelf then. Robbing the liquor store was my only option considering that I was underage, minus a wallet, and there was a damn "no shoes, no shirt, no sell" policy sign on the liquor store door. Sure I'd managed to bring a shirt, but having a pair of shoes tied around my ankle while I phased was just about as comfortable as wrapping a cinder block around it. I glanced down to the floor at my bare feet. A puddle had started to gather around them from my dripping, rain-soaked clothes. I was surprised that the old man had even let me in.

"_He must be really hard-up for business,"_ I thought to myself as I thumped a cardboard box with my finger so I could hear the _clink_ of the can inside of it.

I froze then. Not from the sound of the beer can, not from the pair of old eyes that were boring into me as I thumped the 6-pack's box, but from the scent of someone else who was approaching the store. The rain must have intensified the scent because I knew right away that it wasn't the scent of your average human. The bell on the liquor store door jingled then as the old mans newest customer entered. The beer-stocked shelf was too tall to see over so I examined the old man for his reaction. His face seemed to soften and his greeting was much kinder than the one he had given me. The customer had to be a girl, and I had a sneaking suspicion that I probably knew her name.

"Where's your rum?"

The dark-sultry sound of her voice had the potential to be seductive, but her tone was just so damn rude. I ground my teeth together at the sound and wondered if someone had sent her here after me. It wasn't very likely, though. The rain had a way of washing away the scents you wouldn't want your family to follow, and besides, _she_ would be the last person to come looking for me.

"It's on the last isle," the old man replied.

I turned my back to the beer-stocked shelf as I listened to her foot steps move down the isle next to mine. I stared at the opening at the end of the isle, waiting for her to pass by. Her foot steps turned the corner then and she took one step into the path of the isle before she stopped. Leah Clearwater in all her scowling glory glanced over her shoulder to look at me. She stared at me with her blank, dark eyes, that were framed by her short black hair and her lips didn't twitch with any kind of emotion. Her tank-top and shorts were dripping wet just like my clothes, but unlike me, she had shoes on her feet. I ran my free hand through my wet hair as I glanced down at my bare feet, trying to think up an excuse for what I was doing here…

"You're standing in the wrong isle, crossbreed," she said with a cutting tone as if she already knew why I was here...and she probably did.

To her, there was probably no mystery why I would be in a liquor store. She knew what it was like to be on the bad end of an imprinting, but I didn't care if I had that small thing in common with her. She had just called me "crossbreed" and name-calling was unnecessary. I glared at her.

"I didn't know there could be a _wrong_ isle in a liquor store," I challenged.

Leah's eyes glistened at me as if they were smiling, but her mouth didn't, "For _us_ there is, and you are standing in it."

Leah turned her head then and walked away. I took a step forward, instinctively, to follow her, but then stopped myself. _How the hell could beer possibly be wrong for a shape-shifter?_

"YOU'RE GOING TO NEED SOMETHING STRONGER THAN A 6-PACK," Leah yelled, loudly, from an isle over as if she was answering my thought.

I turned my head to look at the old man behind the counter who had heard her words. He raised a curious eyebrow at me and I shrugged my shoulders. I was curious myself and it was that sheer curiosity that moved my feet. _What were the odds that I would go to a liquor store the same time as Leah Clearwater?_ I breezed down the isle and turned on to the one she was standing in.

"So, umm," I began as I watched her bend over to scan the labels on the bottles, "did my family send out a search party or something?"

Leah stood up straight and gave me a bored look.

"Does it look like I'm here for you?"

I glared off in another direction as I puffed out a breath of air and then took a few deep ones, trying to calm the nerves that she was infuriating before I accidentally phased inside of the liquor store and caused the old man to have a heart attack.

Leah eyed me, humorously, and gave a dry laugh, "Does that help?"

I glared at her.

"Look, I just want to know why you're here," I said as I crossed my arms over my chest.

Leah put her hands on her hips and turned to face me head on.

"I _live_ here. The real question is 'why are _you_ here'. Too chicken to go to the liquor store in your own neck-of-the-woods?"

I scoffed at her assumption, "No." _...yes._

Leah shook her head and squatted down to the floor to look at the bottles on the bottom shelf. I couldn't believe she wasn't lecturing me or threatening to tell on me or some shit like that. I involuntarily raised up a hand to scratch my head...confused.

"So, hey," I said, "Uh, how come you aren't giving me some lame ass lecture about underage drinking?"

"A _lecture_," she scoffed as if it was a joke and then stared up at me from the floor. "I wouldn't lecture someone for doing something _I_ did at your age. And don't you think, for one minute, that Jacob wasn't guilty of it too. The thing is," she paused as she turned back to the shelf and tapped a finger to one of the bottles, "If you're going to drink there's only one way to do it."

"Here," she said as she picked up a bottle by its neck and held up her arm to hand it to me.

I took it and lowered my head as I read the label on the bottle of rum. My eyes grew wide then and I stared at her in disbelief. _She had to be kidding!_

"This stuff is 100 proof!"

I didn't really know shit about drinking, but I did know how to read the alcohol content on a label. Truth-be-told, the first and last time I had ever had a drink...I was 9 and I had snuck a beer out of the ice chest when Grandpa Billy and Grandpa Charlie were fishing. And now, I was jumping right to the hard stuff.

"Here's 1 more," Leah said as she thrust the bottle at me.

I stared down at the 2 bottles I held in my hands and then back at Leah. She was crazy. Maybe clinically insane. I couldn't be sure.

"Huh, you _have_ heard of little thing called...alcohol poisoning, right?"

Leah turned and scowled at me.

"That depends. Have _you_ heard of a little thing called 'shape-shifting'? Because when you can do it, your body tends to metabolize alcohol before you even feel a buzz. Bet you didn't know about that one, did you, _crossbreed_?"

I narrowed my eyes at her and she raised her eyebrows at me in challenge.

"I have a name, you know," I told her as I boldly stared into her eyes.

Her eyes glistened back at me as if they were smiling but her mouth didn't even twitch.

"I know," she said in a bored tone and then turned to walk away.

I realized she was heading towards the counter and that she probably expected _me _to pay for this stuff since my family, after all, was loaded.

"Hey, wait," I called after her before she had a chance to move out of the isle and into the old man's line of sight.

"What," Leah asked impatiently as she turned around.

"I don't have any money on me..."

Leah stared hard at me for a second and then pursed her lips in distaste as if she knew what my confession implied.

"Let me guess," Leah began as she took one step towards me, "What you mean to say is that you were planning to steal liquor from a liquor store," Leah gave a dry laugh as she shook her head, "Wow, you're as much of a moron as your dad is. But I guess, between Jacob's and Bella Swan's genes you didn't have much of a chance to be anything _but _a moron, did you, crossbreed?"

Leah spun on her heel and walked towards the front of the store. I glared daggers into the back of her head from being called a moron and, again, a crossbreed. I wasn't opposed to nicknames, but "crossbreed" was not acceptable. I followed her up to the counter. She stood waiting there with one hand on her hip and one finger tapping the counter in a gesture for me to put the bottles there. Begrudgingly, I moved towards her. The old man gave me a suspicious look as approached but I tried to ignore him as I placed the bottles on the counter. Leah shoved a hand into her pocket then, searching for something, and I realized that I was kind of lucky that she had shown up. She had pretty much saved me from my own stupidity. She had saved me from having to commit a crime.

I stared into the side of her face and then took a deep breath, "Thank you for all of this..."

Leah turned her head to look at me and there was a tiny bit of surprise on her face as if "thank you" wasn't something she heard very often. But, her face quickly tightened into a scowl again as she pulled her drivers license from her pocket and showed it to the old man.

"What makes you think that both bottles are for you," she snapped at me.

The old man's eyebrows raised as he handed her back her drivers license and a corner of my mouth curved-up into a mischievous smile.

"So," I said as I leaned-in closer to her, smiling, "Why are _you _drinking?"

Leah self-consciously glanced from me to the old man, who was adding up our total, as if it was a question she didn't want to answer in front of him.

"I'm celebrating," she spat at me in warning and then quickly looked away as if it was a subject she wanted me to drop.

My smile widened.

"Okay. So, what are you celebrating?"

I could see Leah's jaw clench as she stared forward and it was sort of amusing to know that my questions were obviously getting to her. Leah turned to look at me then with her lips pressed into a tight line as her eyes narrowed.

"I'm celebrating because I started my period," she said through her clenched teeth.

I swallowed hard and the blood drained from my face at her words but I didn't know how to respond to something like that. I turned to look at the old man who had witnessed this whole conversation but I could tell from the way he busied himself with the cash registrar that he was trying to act oblivious to her words. He probably thought she was celebrating a false alarm on a pregnancy scare, and since I was with her... he probably thought I was the one responsible. He had_ no_ idea how impossible that was.

"Forty two, ninety three," the old man blurted out as he finished adding up our total.

Leah groaned as she shoved her hand into her pocket and sent me a searing glare.

"I'll pay you back, I promise," I said to her as she handed the old man her credit card, and shook her head, unsatisfied with my words.

"Do you want a bag for this," the old man asked as he quickly charged her credit card and then handed it back.

"No. He'll carry them," Leah ordered as she shoved her card back in her pocket and then turned to leave.

I watched as she walked away. Her shoes barely made a sound as they pounded the floor, but anyone could tell from the way she shoved the entrance door open on exit that she was pissed. The old man cleared his throat.

"Kid, you might want to bring your girlfriend some flowers when you pay her back," the old man chuckled.

_Girlfriend? Shit. _I frowned at his misguided assumption and then gathered the clanking bottles up from the counter in one arm.

"_She_ is _not_ my girlfriend," I said, shaking my head as I pointed my free thumb in the direction of Leah.

The old man gave a lazy shrug, "Doesn't matter. There's never a wrong time to give a girl flowers."

My jaw went slack and my eyebrows fell in annoyance. I was always getting unwanted advice from the unlikeliest of sources. First from my ex-girlfriend's dad and now from this guy. What was that he her dad had said? _STOP THINKING WITH YOUR DICK! _No, not that. What was the other thing he had said? Oh yeah...

"_The girlfriends that you have to work to get tend to last longer and be more worthwhile than the ones that come easy," _I repeated Mr. Johnson's words in my head as I forced a smile at this other advice-giving man.

"Thanks for the tip," I muttered and then quickly headed for the exit.

Leah was standing under the eaves of the roof with her arms crossed as she stared out to the street. I followed her gaze as I replayed everything that led up to this moment. _Leah buying ME booze? Huh, which episode of "The Twilight Zone" had I stepped into?_ I stared across the empty liquor store parking lot to the two lane street as I held the 2 bottles of rum in my arms. The rain had already stopped, but the black-topped street was still slick with rain and looked silver as the moonlight reflected off of its puddles. I looked at Leah who was completely encompassed in the shadow of the roof. I thought about the "cause" she'd given me for celebrating and I wondered if it was true. _How could it be true?_ I tried to think of something to say.

"You know," Leah said, breaking the silence, "You have single-handedly destroyed the pack."

My eyes narrowed as I stared at her, but her words weren't really a surprise. I gave a careless shrug, realizing that she was talking about the fact that the wolves no longer felt compelled to kill vampires anymore. But, I wouldn't have used the word "destroyed" to describe the changes to the pack. Nothing had been destroyed. It hadn't messed-up their ability to phase. _So, what the hell is she talking about?_ I looked down at the 2 bottles of rum I held in my arm and my eyes grew wide.

"Leah, were you being serious about you're...period," I nearly choked out the word.

Leah turned her body towards me and gave me a bored look, "Not exactly."

I sighed, relieved not to have been the cause of another anomaly.

"Actually," Leah added and I looked up, "I'm celebrating the end of it."

My entire body went tense._ Shit! _

"Does my dad know?"

Leah shook her head, "No one knows except for my mom, and now, you. But, everyone will find out soon enough. Not like they'll care or anything. Most of them have enough _adjustments_ of their own to deal with right now."

My eyebrows lowered in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Leah uncrossed her arms and then grabbed a bottle by its necks from my grasp. She cradled the bottle in her arm like she was holding a baby and then examined my expression for a moment.

"Wow. You really don't _know__,_ do you?"

Leah glared at me in disbelief.

"_Know_ WHAT," I demanded.

Leah leaned in closer as if she was going to tell me a secret and I stood perfectly still, waiting.

"The mystical powers of imprinting seem to be wearing off," she said as if she was repeating a rumor that she didn't believe herself.

I stared at her, waiting for her to crack a smile and throw her head back like she was laughing at a joke, but she didn't. Her lip curled up slightly and her expression bordered on repulsion as if her own words had left a bad test in her mouth. I narrowed my eyes.

"What?"

Leah groaned and spun on her heel as she walked away, "Come on, crossbreed! If you expect me to explain this crap to you I'm going to need a drink!"

* * *

I stared out across the water. The moonlight was reflected on its rippled surface and I could see the lights from the boats in the distance as they set anchored in the waters of Port Angeles. Leah had led me, here, to this old wooden pier that was over grown with weeds where it touched the ground. We both sat at the end of it with our legs hanging over the edge. Leah didn't say so, but I wondered if she came here a lot. She looked very comfortable. I stared at the side of her face as she tilted her head back to take another drink from her bottle. The light of the moon made her otherwise copper skin look silver and I realized for the first time that she was sort of beautiful...despite that damn scowl she always wore anyway. I quickly looked away then and took a deep breath.

"This doesn't make any sense," I said on exhale, "Why would imprinting and...you be affected when I phased?"

Leah shrugged her shoulders and lowered her bottle from her mouth just a little.

"Why is the sky blue," she asked with a laugh.

I rolled my eyes and drummed my own bottle of rum with my fingers. I hadn't even opened mine yet, but Leah had already knocked back a few drinks. She examined the look on my face then and set her bottle down beside her.

"My mom thinks that it was a defense-mechanism that stopped my period in the first place. You know, because of vampires and..._blood. _But, now that a member of the pack _is_ part vampire..." Leah paused as if she was thinking about something and then she gave a shrug, "I guess it would have really given me away if I was bleeding while trying to hunt down one of those leeches..."

I grimaced at her words and Leah laughed as she took-in the look on my face.

"Come on, crossbreed," Leah said as she pointed to the bottle I held in my hand, "You wanted that so bad that you were going to steal it and now you aren't even drinking it!"

I frowned at that. But, by now, I had pretty much forgotten why I ever wanted the booze in the first place. Now, all I wanted was information.

"What about imprinting," I asked.

Leah took another drink from her bottle and set it back down on the pier with a "thud".

"Well," she began with her famous scowl on her face, "If imprinting is to insure that the pack will produce strong, vampire-killing, wolf babies, but YOU are part vampire...the point of imprinting is kind of moot. Isn't it?"

I considered her explanation, but it still didn't explain everything...

"How come everyone in the pack can still phase, though?"

Leah groaned, "I don't know! Maybe it's because you can! Why the hell does it matter? Stop trying to analyze everything and just let it be!"

Leah grabbed her bottle up from off of the pier and pressed it to her lips as she took another drink. I looked down at the unopened bottle I held in my hands and I thought of my parents. I thought about how they had been less-clingy to one another and then how they had had that argument. I guess it made sense if what Leah was saying was true. But, it was harder to believe that it could just "wear off" for the ones who were already imprinted. I could believe that, from now on, there would be no more imprinting. That was more understandable. But, my parents had been imprinted since before I was born! How could it just suddenly wear off? And, what now? Would my parents break-up, get a divorce, and start hating each other...just because of me? Just because I had phased and fucked-up the delicate balance between two mortal enemy's? I really had destroyed the pack. I stared down at the bottle I held in my hands and it started looking awfully good again.

"So, uh, what's the trick here," I asked Leah as I unscrewed the cap on the bottle.

Leah put her own bottle between her knees and then turned her full attention to me.

"Take a sip and swallow it. Believe me you don't want to taste it so just swallow it. Don't even think about it. Just swallow."

I laughed.

"Jeez, if this stuff is so bad, why'd you buy it?"

"Because it's the strongest thing they had. Now shut up and drink!"

I set the cap down beside me and looked into the bottle. I shook it a little so I could hear the liquid slushing around, and then Leah, impatiently, cleared her throat. I didn't look at her. I just told myself: _Don't think._ I quickly lifted the bottle to my lips and tilted it back to pour a sip into my mouth and then I swallowed. Only part of the rum made it down my throat as the rest of it immediately got coughed up. I leaned forward as I coughed the alcohol out of my mouth. The part that went down burned in my throat and my chest felt hot. Leah was laughing hysterically.

"FUCK," I yelled as I wiped my mouth, "How can you drink this shit!"

Leah had her arms wrapped around her waist as she leaned forward, laughing. Then suddenly, she stopped, brushed her hair behind her ears, and put on a straight face.

"It takes some getting used to," she admitted and then bit her lip, trying not to laugh, "The second sip should go down easier now that you know what to expect."

Her eyes glistened at me as she bit her lips together, holding back a laugh. She was waiting for me take another sip so she could watch me fail at it.

"I'm not drinking that shit again."

Leah's face fell in disappointment and she turned away from me as she took another drink. I stared out at the water and we set in silence for a while until Leah started laughing again.

"Did you know that your dad once made-out with your grandma?"

My mouth fell open in disgust and it felt like I could feel a tiny bit of rum coming up. Leah held her bottle pressed to her lips as she tried not to laugh but she didn't drink from it.

"Yeah, I know," I said as glared at her, gripping my bottles neck tightly in my hands...almost wishing it were hers, "Why would you—"

"Did you know that your dad made-out with your mom when she was 7?"

I cringed at the thought and automatically lifted the bottle to my lips, swallowing down a sip quickly. I hissed from the burn of the alcohol and Leah laughed in triumph.

"Yeah. I know that too. Thanks for bring it up," I said as I set my bottle down on the pier.

Leah laughed again. But, I had to give it her. She had been right about the second sip. It did go down easier once I knew what to expect.

"I'm surprised that you know all of that stuff, and yet, you're just NOW starting to drink," she laughed, "If I had been born into your family I would have popped-out of the womb with a bottle in my hand!"

I picked up my bottle and took another drink.

"Well, I guess some of us can handle things better than others," I said.

Leah glared at me and I smiled tauntingly at her. She looked away.

"You're not," she began and then paused, "You're not a leechy as I thought you'd be."

I raised an eyebrow at her, curiously.

"'Leechy'," I repeated her word.

"Yeah," she said, "_Leechy._ Like the rest of your holier-than-thou leech relatives."

I couldn't help but laugh at that one.

"Well, thanks...I guess."

Leah nodded her head and lifted her bottle to me.

"Here's to you, crossbreed, for destroying the stupid magic that first ruined my life and then caused you to phase."

Leah laughed and then took a drink from her bottle. I swallowed hard at her words and it left a bad taste in my mouth as I thought about what had caused me to phase. Eli imprinting on Amy. My eyes widened as I took what I had learned from Leah and then put 2-and-2 together. If there was no more imprinting that meant that Amy didn't have to be with Eli. And that's why she was still able to have feelings for me. _Holy shit._ I looked at Leah as she stared out across the water. I wondered about the other imprints, like Sam and Emily. How was this affecting them? How was this affecting my parents? Obviously not too much since they were probably "making-up" for their argument somewhere in the woods—I cringed at the thought—but still I needed to know.

"Uh, hey. Thanks for everything, but I gotta go," I said as I stood to my feet.

Leah nodded.

"Okay, crossbreed. Be careful not to run into any trees on your way through the forest though."

Leah doubled over with laughter then and I wondered if maybe I shouldn't leave her alone like this.

"Are you going to be alright," I asked, noticing that her bottle was practically empty.

Leah waved me off as she finished off the last of her bottle and then reached over to the other end of the pier to grab mine. I shook my head in disbelief that drinking like that wouldn't kill her. But, then again, we were shape-shifters. We defied all kinds of human normalities. It felt wrong to leave her alone, but my family had a helluva lot of explaining to do. I gave Leah one last look before I started running then. I ran on 2 legs through the parts of Port Angeles I couldn't run through on 4. I was going home. I didn't know if anyone would be there, but I would wait for them. Then again, as per tradition—they were probably already waiting for me...


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Spilling Guts

"Come on," I beckoned the silent vampires who occupied the living room, "Give it to me. Law down the law. Tell me I'm grounded until I'm 20!"

My entire secretive, vampire family stared at me with blank, unreadable expressions as their eight pairs of golden eyes zeroed-in on me, but they gave no response. My arms went slack at my sides as I looked around the room in confusion. I turned to Edward who was standing the closest to me with Bella at his side. He could hear a familiar mind from a mile away...or further! And I had been thinking about the liquor store just before my feet hit our driveway. There was no way in hell he didn't know where I had been! _Is this for real! No lecture about underage drinking or going out on a school night! _Edward pinched the bridge of his nose with his hand, squeezing his eyes shut tight as if my thoughts were given him a headache.

"We called your parents. We're waiting for them," Edward spoke, breaking the silence as he lowered his hand from his face and then looked at me, "In the case that you arrived _first_, they asked us not to question you."

I shook my head at that. _Vampires taking orders from half-breeds? Bullshit. __My eyebrows lowered as I looked around at the silent vampires and then realized that maybe it was the truth. I looked to Edward with narrow eyes._

"What else have _they_ asked you not to do—not to tell me how imprinting has worn off?"

Suddenly, Edward stared at something behind me, and my skin prickled as I felt someone approach.

"Yes, actually," came the sound of my mom's voice but I didn't turn to look at her, "You've already had to make so many new adjustments," she explained with a pleading tone, "We didn't want…_this_ to distract you from school."

I narrowed my eyes at her pathetic excuse and ground my teeth together as I slowly turned to face her. School was a terrible excuse not to tell your own son that your marriage was potentially on the rocks. Nessie looked a little guilty as if she knew it, and so did the tall Native American guy who was standing beside her. I examined my parents for a moment. They were holding hands and their clothes were all wrinkled and their hair was all disheveled. Even though, by the looks of them, I could tell what they had just been doing—I wasn't as grossed-out as I was relieved to see that they seemed...okay?

"So," I said as my eyes locked on to their interlaced fingers, "What's it like when imprinting is no longer around to give you guys a 'Gravitational Pull'?"

Jacob looked down at Nessie with a smirk on his face and then dropped her hand as he took a few steps back, distancing himself from her.

"It makes _this_," he said as he gestured to the space between them, "A lot easier. Pain-free. I don't feel an empty ache in my chest when she's not around."

"It also makes them bicker like an old married couple," Alice chimed-in and I looked over my shoulder to see that her hands were raised to her head, massaging her temples, "There's nothing worse than having to hear an argument that you can't see coming!"

I raised an eyebrow at Alice's words and shot my parents a look.

"So, you guys are okay then?"

Jacob and Nessie both nodded at me with truth in their eyes but my eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"Then why wouldn't you just tell me about it? I mean, I'd find out eventually! I _did_ find out."

"Yeah, about that," Jacob said as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked accusingly around the room, "Who spilled the beans?"

I opened my mouth to tell him that it didn't matter. I didn't want Leah to take any heat from this whole thing—not that she couldn't handle it—but—

"Caleb," Edward's voice paused me and I noticed the half-smile he wore on his face. _Uh oh..._

"Why don't you tell everyone where you've been tonight," he suddenly suggested.

_Shit. _I ground my teeth together as I glared at the damn-mind-reading vampire. Everyone's eyes were filled with curiosity as if they hadn't already known where I had been. _Edward didn't tell them?_ I shot him a questioning look and he glanced down to the floor. _Guilty. _I looked around the room at my family's expectant stares as they waiting for me to spill my guts on my latest adventure. I took a deep breath.

"I was just being a normal kid," I said with a shrug of my shoulders, hoping the whole "being normal" excuse would be a valid one. _No dice._

Edward stared pointedly at me, "_You_ were drinking."

Esme gasped, Emmett laughed his booming laughter from where he sat on the couch next to Rosalie, and everyone else stared at me with wide eyes.

"Don't worry," I said with regret, "It wasn't very...effective."

Jacob snorted out a laugh as if he knew what I meant and Nessie back-handed him across his chest.

_"Hey_," Jacob said in defense, "We're probably the reason he was drinking!"

I shook my head, "No. It wasn't really about you."

For the most part, my inspiration to drink had come from seeing Amy and Eli at school. My parents secretiveness was only the icing on top of the proverbial shit cake. It had been this last case of imprinting, the last case _ever_, that made me want to drink. My eyes widened then as I realized, in that moment, the _big_ reason, "the main reason", why my parents didn't want to tell me.

"You thought I'd try to break up Amy and Eli if I knew that imprinting was no longer standing in my way."

Nessie looked guilty and Jacob shrugged his shoulders.

"Wouldn't you," he asked.

I thought about it for a moment, and truth-be-told…yeah, I would have. If I had known that imprinting no longer held them together, I probably would've tried to come between them just to piss off Eli. I smiled sheepishly.

"Probably," I admitted, "But...I'm over it."

I stared down at the floor, uncertain if I truly was over it, over _her_, but I knew that I needed to be. I jumped then, as suddenly my phone vibrated in my pocket. All eyes zeroed-in on me as I shoved my hand in my pocket and pulled out my phone. The vibrating phone in my hand showed the name "Seth" on the lit-up screen. My pulse thundered in my ears as I remembered Leah. _Shit!_

"Hello," I quickly answered as fear struck me that something might have happened to Leah. _You ass! You shouldn't of left her alone! _

"Hey, Caleb," Seth's calm voice relaxed me as it sounded in my ear, "I've got a weird question to ask you..."

I looked around the room and noticed how everyone's eyes were on me as I raised a curious eyebrow at Seth's words. _Something to do with Leah, probably!_

"Uh, o-k," I said sounding a little unsure, "Shoot."

Seth took a deep breath on the other end of the phone.

"Is my sister sending me drunk text messages again, or, have you actually seen her tonight?"

I quickly glanced up to meet my families inquisitive stares at the words "drunk text messages". _Damn their super-hearing!_ I gave a frustrated sigh before answering.

"Uhh...both," I replied to Seth as I was met with wide-eyed stares, "But look Seth, I gotta go. Family issues."

I ended the call and shoved the phone back in my pocket as I faced the firing squad. My family shot me with their question-filled eyes.

"Leah took you drinking?" Jacob spoke-up first.

He looked at me with a big, amused grin on his face. I just shrugged my shoulders, stiffly. It hadn't happened exactly like that, but it was close enough. I gave a small nod. The vampires murmured their murmurs at my confession while Jacob snorted out a laugh.

"Well, did she happen to mention why she hasn't answered her phone," Jacob asked me curiously.

I gave a heavy, tired sigh and glanced down to the floor as Leah's reason for privacy filled my thoughts. _Girl problems..._

"Yeah, she did," I muttered under my breath and then sent Edward, the mind-reader, a pointed look, "It's not really anyone's business, but hers, to say why."

Jacob frowned at my reply and Edward gave a nod, agreeing to keep what he knew to himself. And then, as if Jasper himself was influencing my emotions—I yawned, feeling tired. Of course, I realized it was probably a delayed effect of the alcohol. _No wonder it's called a downer..._ I yawned as I looked around at my family's faces.

"Is someone going to hurry up and give me my punishment," I asked with another yawn, " Or, can you let me sleep on it?"

My family responded with laughs and smiles as they looked at my heavy-lidded eyes. Nessie wrapped an arm around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze.

"Go," she said as she pushed me towards the staircase, "You need your sleep. You have school in the morning."

I groaned at her reminder as I moved sluggishly up the stairs. My family were letting me off easy. I was too tired to be suspicious of it, but maybe, just maybe, my "being a normal kid excuse" was more effective than I thought.

* * *

There were banners and posters hanging everywhere that foretold that graduation was just around the corner. They hung outside of the school, in the hallways; on the lockers and walls, and there was even a banner hanging in the cafeteria. I stared at it as I sat alone at my table, thinking about what I would do next. College was a popular choice. It was certainly a choice my family wanted for me. I sighed as I stared down at the slice of pizza that sat on my tray. College equaled school. I was sick of school.

"'Sup?" The two scrawny, parted-haired kids from yesterday sat down at my table without asking this time.

"Still thinking about that girl," the ballsy kid asked as he eyed my untouched slice of pizza.

There was a carton of milk set up in front of each kid, and this time one of them had a comic book instead of a game magazine. I smirked at the kid who asked if was thinking about Amy and I picked up the slice of pizza from my plate. I raised the pizza to my mouth and took a bite off the end of it.

"Nope," I said as I chewed, noting that pizza just didn't taste the way it used to.

The kid nodded at me as he started to eat his own lunch and I finished off my pizza just for show. It was true that I hadn't thought about Amy—not much anyway—not unless I saw—

Amy walked into the cafeteria then, talking with two other girls. I could hear just enough of their conversation to know that I didn't want hear anymore. She was talking about Eli. I rolled my eyes and looked down at my empty plate.

"Did you use to go out with her," the ballsy kid asked me why the other one peered at me from over the top of his comic book.

An amused smile spread across my face as I shook my head at the inquisitive freshman.

"Yeah," I said as I looked up at him, "I did."

The kid nodded as he slurped his milk through a straw.

"Did she break up with you, or did you break up with her?"

Taken aback by his question, I stared at him with lowered eyebrows. His eyes grew wide at my expression and he gulped down his milk. The other kid with the comic book eyed his ballsy friend as if he had just asked his last question. I rolled my eyes at the two parted-haired kids.

"You guys need to loosen-up," I said, "I'm not going to hurt you. Relax. We're cool."

"Well," the kid with the comic book said behind the safety of its pages as he eyed my arms, "You look like you could hurt someone."

I snorted out a laugh as I looked at the two of them.

"Looks can be deceiving." _More so than you two could imagine._

Suddenly, I heard my name being spoken from across the room. My eyes shot through the crowd as I zeroed-in on Amy's table.

"Look at him sitting with those losers," one of her friends said, "You broke up with him just in time."

I watched Amy nod her head in agreement.

"He's more of a loser than the ones he's sitting with."

Amy caught my eye and she swallowed as she stared into mine from across the room. She looked as if she knew I could hear their conversation, and more surprisingly—she looked apologetic. I offered her a small smile before I turned back to my table. Bella had once warned me about teenage girls: "They're prone to spite and gossip," she had said. I wasn't surprised.

"She sort of broke up with me," I admitted to my two, non-losery lunch mates.

The ballsy kid sat his milk carton back down on the table and the other kid lowered the comic book from his face. They both looked surprised as they turned their heads from me and looked towards Amy's table.

"Eh, she's flat chested anyway."

My eyes widened with surprise at the ballsy kids words. I stared at him for a minute. For a kid who parted his hair and drank milk from a straw—he was pretty cool. I gave a delayed laugh and shrugged my shoulders.

"She's not as flat chested as that shirt makes her look," I said with a smirk as I glanced over at Amy.

"Wooo hoo," the two freshmen cheered.

"You can do better though," the ballsy kid added as he piled his empty milk carton on to his tray

The kid with the comic book nodded in agreement, and I glanced over at Amy. She self-consciously pulled a strand of her brown hair behind her ear as if she felt me staring. I stared at her until she finally looked my way and our eyes met.

"You got another girl lined-up?"

My eyes darted back to the kid at my table and I raised another eyebrow at his question. The freshman innocently gave his shoulders a shrug as if to say: "Just asking."

"No," I replied.

He looked disappointed by this and I suddenly had questions of my own about this kid, like: _Why'd he ask so many damn questions! _

"Not even another girl your interested in?"

I shook my head at his question, but I couldn't help but to considerate it. I couldn't help but to think of Leah and how I owed her for buying me booze. A smile crept across my face at the thought.

"Who is she," the kid asked, excitedly as he noticed my smile and I shot him look.

"You know," I said as I looked at him with narrowed eyes, "You ask too many questions."

"You can never ask to many questions," the kid challenged just as the bell that signaled the end of lunch rang.

I watched as the students, as if programmed to do so, left their tables and filed out of the lunchroom. I caught sight of Amy again and I realized, all of a sudden, that she seemed pretty average to me. She seemed just like all the other students she moved through the crowd with and she didn't even stand out among them. I only noticed her because she meant something to me, but she was just a normal teenager, just a normal human. But, I wasn't—not anymore.

"You should ask the other girl out," the ballsy kid suggested as he stood-up from the table with his tray in his hands.

I laughed at his words as if they had been some inside joke that only I understood. He'd laugh too if he knew about Leah, though.

"I'll think about it," I lied as I watched my two lunch mates head out of the cafeteria.

My eyes wandered up to the graduation banner that hung in the cafeteria again. _The class of 2038. _The motto that was written across the banner seemed to mock me.

"If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door," I read the words before rolling my eyes.

It was best to close one door before even thinking about another door and there was one door that I was seriously considering closing—for good. It was the door I had opened with Amy, and then, never really closed. I had said about all I needed to say to her, but I had never spoken to Eli—and for good reason. I turned in my seat as the cafeteria around me was still emptying-out and I looked through the window to the parking lot. Eli would be coming. And I would be waiting.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Closing Doors/Opening Doors

The school parking lot was filled with cars, but not with people. All the students were still inside, finishing up the last half-hour of their last class, but I wasn't. I leaned my back against the red BMW with my arms crossed over my chest as I stared at the entrance to the parking lot. I was waiting for Eli. I had it figured that he would show up early to make sure the high school boys were keeping their hands to themselves. Being extra protective, like that, was probably a basic protocol now that all the used-to-be imprint girls were freed from their Quileute love spell. I realized that was the very reason why Eli, probably, saw _me _as a threat. But...

"_I don't want his girl," _I reminded myself, again, just as I saw Eli's black SUV pull into the parking lot.

His window was rolled down and his arm was hanging out of it as he so casually turned down _my_ row in _my_ schools parking lot. I immediately felt a surge of anger rush through me. I didn't know if it was purely territorial, or if something about his face just pissed me off. Maybe it was both, but either way, he had sensed it, and I could see his eyes zero-in on me through his windshield. Eli's eyes narrowed into a threatening glare and I flashed him a cocky smile as I uncrossed my arms to point a thumb to the empty parking spot behind the BMW. He curled up his lip in suspicion as he slowly drove passed me, but he didn't turn down the parking invitation.

"What do want, Black," he growled as he cut off the engine and jumped out of the SUV, "You wanna hit me! Here I am!"

I turned around to see the 21-year-old Eli holding his arms out at his sides as, inviting me to hit him. My mouth curved-up into a half-smile as I looked him over. I realized it was a good thing that no one else was around at the chance that his face _did_ start to look like a punching bag…and I suddenly felt like practicing my swing.

"No," I said and took a deep, almost regretful, breath, "I didn't plan on hitting you."

His tense frame relaxed slightly as he lowered his arms, but his expression was still suspicious.

"Oh yeah," he said as he eyed me up and down, "Then what _did_ you plan?"

I took another deep breath as I prepared myself to say the words that felt like acid on my tongue, but, I still felt like they were the right words to say.

"I was planning on calling a truce."

I winced from having actually said the words, and then spared another look at Eli. His skeptical expression wasn't making "being nice" any easier for me. I sighed in annoyance.

"Look, I'm not going to be a third wheel," I said as I looked him hard in the eye, "I knew Amy wasn't mine before she even met you, and I don't want a girl that belongs to someone else. So, lets not be enemies. Alright?"

I stuck my hand out to him in a gesture of resignation, even though my own words left me feeling bitter. I was basically giving him permission to keep the girl he stole from me without any stipulations. But, then again, I was entitled to at least _one_ thing… Eli gave me his hand, taking me up on the truce, and I tried to hold back a smirk as I gripped it with a question in mind: _What's it like to have your whole world revolve around one girl, your soul mate, only to have it all pulled out from under you a moment later?_

An electric shock buzzed between our hands as I took the answer from Eli's mind, and suddenly, I no longer felt bitter. Eli was much more screwed-up about the whole thing then I was. Even now, he could still remember, in that brief moment when he had imprinted, what it felt like to love Amy with such a crazy intensity that nothing else in the world mattered. But now, with imprinting gone, there was no force of nature holding them together. All that was left was Eli's thoughts of what-could-have-been, and the uncertainty of whether or not they will stay together now.

"What the FUCK," Eli yelled as he jerked his hand away from me and shook it like he'd just been burned...or electrocuted.

"Sorry," I said with an impish smile as I shoved my hands into my pockets, "I just, uh, wanted to get your perspective on this whole no-imprinting thing."

Eli glared at me and fisted his hands tight at his sides.

"You're a real freak, Black!"

I gave a careless shrug.

"Yeah well, we don't exactly keep a short supply of those around here."

Eli rolled his eyes at my words and I turned my attention to the school just as the other students started filing out. Suddenly, I had an itch to leave as some of them started heading towards their cars, towards us. I didn't want to see Amy, again. Just because I'd called a truce with Eli didn't mean we were friends, and it sure as hell didn't mean that I'd consider double-dating in the future. I closed my eyes tight and tried the shake that cringe-worthy thought out of my head.

"Later," I said to Eli, but he didn't reply as I walked off towards my car.

As I got to my car door, it occurred to me to ask him one more thing. I spared Eli one more look. He leaned against the back of his SUV with his arms crossed as he waited for Amy.

"Hey Eli!" I called out to him and he looked at me with a warning glare.

A smile broke out across my face at his expression.

"How's Mr. Johnson treating you," I asked as I remembered back to how the man had tried to beat me with a bat.

Eli's jaw clenched at my words and then he flipped me off. I gave a laugh.

"That bad, huh?"

Eli silently fumed and I continued to laugh as I slid behind the wheel and then cranked the engine. It would suck to have in-laws that hated you. I guess Eli really was the one who got the short end of the stick. _Poor guy. _I laughed as I peeled out of the school's parking lot like I was the get-away driver in a bank heist. I felt good. Forgiving Eli and closing the door on me and Amy felt good. It was as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. The dark cloud that was Amy and Eli was no longer hovering over my head. I was free. Free to open new doors...

* * *

The apartment complex was very small. It wasn't even worthy of being called a "complex"; there was nothing _complex_ about it. There were 2 floors and a grand total of 6 apartments. I had never been to Leah's apartment before, but with only 6 to choose from, I didn't even need to know which one belonged to her. Too bad I already knew that she was in #4.

I climbed up the metal staircase that led to the second floor, taking the stairs two at a time. My eyes immediately caught sight of the black number "4" that was mounted on one of the doors. I took a deep breath as I stopped in front of it and then raised my hand up to knock on Leah's door. I gave two hard knocks and then waited.

No answer.

But, the apartment wasn't empty. Not only could I hear movement from inside, but there was a hint of a fresh, clean scent in the air as if someone had just taken a shower. I knocked on the door again making sure it was louder this time. Then suddenly, the sound of pounding feet echoed from somewhere in the apartment, growing louder as they approached me until they came to a stomping halt.

"WHAT," Leah yelled while simultaneously jerking open the door.

She gave me a straight look like she wasn't surprised to see me standing on her welcome mat and a smile involuntarily spread across my face as I looked at her. Her short hair was pulled back and a few too-short strands of it fell around her face. I raised a curious eyebrow as I realized she was also wearing a little makeup.

"Going somewhere," I asked with a grin.

Leah rolled her eyes.

"Yeah," she snapped, "I have a job to go to. What do _you_ want?"

I quickly pulled the money out of my wallet and then held it out to her.

"I was wondering if you had change for a fifty."

Leah's lips parted in disbelief and she narrowed her eyes at me.

"You came _here_ because you wanted _change_!"

I snorted out a laugh, "No—"

Leah glared at me like she was two shakes away from going-wolf and ripping my head from my body. I nervously cleared my throat.

"Well, yeah okay, I sort of did come here for change, but ONLY because I promised to pay you back for the rum... Remember," I asked and then waited for her response but I didn't get one, "Look, I've had this fifty saved up since I flushed Charlie's transmission and I know the bottles of rum cost forty-something, but—"

"Forty two, ninety three," Leah corrected as her eyes seared into mine, "But, _you _didn't even drink your bottle."

I sighed.

"I know, but a promise is a promise and I'm a man of my word."

"Pfft," Leah scoffed, "A 'man' wouldn't work on his own _grandfather's_ car...for money!"

I nodded my head as I considered that and then a smile spread across my face, "He would if he was hard-up for cash."

Leah rolled her eyes and then gave me a blank stare as I waved the fifty dollar bill at her.

"You're not going to leave until I take it, are you?"

"Nope."

Leah groaned and then snatched the money from my hand.

"Come on, crossbreed," she said as she turned to walk away, leaving her front door open, "You can come inside, but don't mess with my stuff, OR, go through my refrigerator!"

I gave a humorous laugh as I slowly entered her apartment and closed the door behind me.

"You don't have to worry about that," I said as I glanced around the tiny living room that was connected to the even tinier kitchen, "I don't really eat from the same menu as you."

Leah didn't comment on that as she disappeared from my sight and the sound of her footsteps trailed-off into another room. She was probably relieved that there was, at least, one wolf who wouldn't eat her out of house and home.

"I have to finish getting ready for work," Leah yelled at me from the back of the apartment, "Then I'll get your stupid change, and then you can get the hell out!"

A smile crept across my face at her words as I did a very slow, explorative 360-degree turn around her living room. It was pretty standard as far as living rooms went. It had a couch, a chair, a TV, curtains, wall decorations, and...a piano. I realized then that the only reason her living room was so small was because she had crammed so much shit into it. I walked over to the piano that was pushed against a wall that was across the room from the open doorway Leah had disappeared through.

I frowned as I realized that the old wooden upright piano was being used as a shelf. At the very top, it held magazines in a sloppy stack at one corner while the rest of the space was covered with picture frames. I glanced down at a spiral notebook that set open on the music rack just above the fall-board that was covered in a thick layer of dust as if it hadn't been lifted for years. The pages of the spiral notebook were filled with hand written music notes and at the top it had even been given a title.

"'The Way It Is'," I whispered to myself as I read it.

My eyebrows knitted together in curiosity and my arms made quick work to pull the piano bench out. I took a seat then and lifted up the fall-board to reveal the piano keys. I couldn't remember the last time I had played, but I was hoping it was the type of thing you never forgot, like riding a bike. I cracked my knuckles and then flexed my fingers as I leaned forward to read the music notes.

Awkwardly, I positioned my fingers over the appropriate keys, and tried to bite back a laugh as my out-of-practice fingers fumbled over the notes with ear-piercing inaccuracy. Slowly, an unfamiliar tune of a song I had never heard before flowed out of the piano and echoed around me in a harmony that was occasionally disrupted by a botched-up note. I lowered my eyebrows in concentration as I forced my fingers to work the keys without a mistake. The resulting sound was decent enough that it had slowly lured Leah from the back of the apartment to a silent stop behind me. I tensed up, waiting for her to yell at me as I continued to play her piano, but surprisingly, she didn't. I smiled as I thought of myself as the snake charmer who could hypnotize a snake with his music. Only, I had hypnotized an angry wolf-girl.

"Who wrote this," I asked the silent Leah as I continued to play the chorus.

Leah _sniffed_, and my fingers stopped playing as my body froze. Slowly, I lowered my hands from the keys and turned on the piano bench so that I could see her. Her lips were set in a pout as she uncrossed one stubborn arm from over her chest to flick a tear from her eye.

"Damn hormones," she cursed as she turned her back to me to angrily wipe at her eyes, "I swear it's like I'm going through puberty all over again! I'm more emotional than a teenage girl at a Backstreet Boys concert!"

I raised a curious eyebrow at her words, but I decided not to ask what a "Backstreet Boy" was. I was more interested in knowing why this song would make her cry. I looked back to the music rack that held the spiral notebook, and then I noticed it. Aside from the fact that spiral notebooks weren't even made anymore, the pages of this one were scuffed at the edges and tinted brown with age. I gritted my teeth, angry at myself for not having realized before how old it was, and how old the piano was, and how long it had set unused. I pieced all the clues together then.

"Did your dad write this song," I asked as I looked up at her from where I sat on the piano bench.

Leah's shoulders rose and fell as she took in a deep jagged breath, and then she turned to face me.

"No. It's Bruce Hornsby's song," she said with another sniff, "It's a song that speaks out about discrimination and poverty, and my dad, being a Native American who has experienced both, really appreciated it. He was always playing it on the piano," Leah paused as she examined me for a reaction and then she rolled her eyes, "The song started playing on the radio a few months before I was born, in 1986, so I wouldn't expect _you _to understand."

I stared at her face, speechless as the full weight of what this song meant to her fell on me. Her cheeks and her nose were flushed red from crying and her lips were pouty from the held-back sobs that she wouldn't make around me. I swallowed hard at the sight of seeing the stone-cold Leah fall to pieces. But yet, there was something beautiful about it. There was something beautiful about seeing this other side of Leah…_even_ if she had to make a slam at my age. As if _I _was too young to understand sentimentality.

"I'm sorry," I forced myself to say as I looked up into her eyes, "I'm sorry for playing your _dad's_ song, but since I wasn't born in '1986' I guess my judgment just isn't as good as those who were."

Leah's scowl returned to her face as she took in my words.

"You guessed right," she snapped back, "But, you're just a kid, you're judgment will improve with age and experience."

I narrowed my eyes at her words as I stood up from the piano bench, and then examined her from head-to-toe. Her face was smooth and youthful, and despite her constant scowl...her skin was wrinkle free. Her body was long and lean with an ample amount of curves that looked firm, and not even her height could add authority to her age when she was standing near me.

"_Kid_?" I scoffed at the word. "Leah, _you _don't look a day older than me."

Leah put her hands on her hips and gave me her "you're a moron" look.

"You're own mother doesn't look a day older than you," Leah shot back, "What's you're point, crossbreed?"

I closed my eyes and let out a frustrated sigh at her mention of my mom.

"My point is that 'age' is just a number ESPECIALLY for people like _us_. The real way to determine our age is through our life experiences," I said as I proudly crossed my arms over my chest.

"Well," Leah began as she gave me a once-over, "I have certainly got you beat there, kid."

I ground my teeth together as she called me "kid" again. I was getting used to the "crossbreed" thing, but for some reason I couldn't stand for _her_ to call me "kid". The parted-haired kids I had lunch with were kids. I wasn't them.

"I've experienced things you haven't," I challenged.

Leah rolled her eyes, "Peeing while standing-up doesn't count."

I glared at her and her eyes twinkled at me as if they were smiling.

"Funny," I said humorously, "But, I never would've used that was an example."

Leah shrugged her shoulders as if that was a surprise to her.

"Then, give me an example."

I glanced down at the piano, remembering the dust that was covering it, and a smile tugged at a corner of mouth.

"Can you play," I asked as I uncrossed my arms to point a thumb towards the piano.

"No, but—"

"HA," I shouted as I pointed a triumphant finger at her, "Well, I can."

Leah looked away from me and my body stiffened in fear that my words might make her cry.

"I'll teach you how to play," I blurted out the words before I even considered them.

Leah turned her head to me and gave me a bored look.

"If I wanted to learn I'd take lessons from a professional not some _kid_ who's never even heard of this song!"

I shook my head at her words. Her continuing to call me "kid" was more demeaning then any other name she could ever call me. I looked into her eyes and I could tell that she could see that. Maybe that was her point. Maybe she said it because she knew it bothered me, but, for some reason, I didn't want Leah Clearwater to think of me as a damn "kid".

"You _could_ take lessons from a professional," I agreed, "But, you'd have to pay them, and _I'm_ offering my services free of charge. And," I added as I closed the fall-board over the piano keys, "I do understand what this song means to you. More than some random professional ever would."

I smiled at her and the scowl she wore on her face softened at little.

"Maybe some other time," she said as she walked past me towards the front door, "But, I have a job to go to."

I turned around just as Leah opened the front door and then held something out to me.

"Here's your change," she said in a cold tone.

I took in her appearance, noticing for the first time that she was wearing a white tank top and a pair of black yoga pants as she held the door open for me to leave. I raised an eyebrow at her work clothes, and I made a point not move from where I stood.

"What's your job," I asked as I looked from her clothes to her face.

Leah groaned and slumped where she stood.

"I teach a yoga class," she spat and then opened the door wider, "Now take your change and GO!"

I snorted out a laugh and walked towards the exit with my hand outstretched the take the money from hers. Leah impatiently thrust her hand towards mine causing my fingers to brush against her with a shock. We both pulled our hands back at the same time, surprised by the shock, and Leah gave me an accusing glare.

"Did you just—"

I shook my head and looked down at her carpeted floors.

"It's probably static from the carpet," I suggested.

"WHATEVER," Leah yelled in frustration and then slapped her money holding hand to my chest and I reached up to grab the money before it slid off.

"GO," she yelled as she then pushed me out of her apartment with her hands.

A smile broke out across my face and I laughed that she was so eager to get rid of me that she had touched_,_ _me_, the "crossbreed", to do it. I felt like teasing her about it, but I didn't want piss her off. I turned around to face her once I found myself standing outside of her apartment again. Leah shooed me off with her hand but my smile widened.

"Okay, okay, I'm going," I said as I started walking away, but then glanced over my shoulder to see that she was watching me go.

I stopped and flashed her a half-smile, "Have a nice class, Leah."

She rolled her eyes and pursed her lips, but she didn't smile back.

"Thanks, crossbreed," she said in a bored tone and then shut her door.

I stared at the closed door for a moment as I realized I had just opened a new door with Leah. I climbed back down the stairs to get to my car as I thought on that. A plan began to take root in my mind then and I had this nagging urge to put it into action. Call it a mission, if you will, or, maybe it was just some stupid impulse I inherited from my parents: like my dad's tendency to try to fix whatever's broken, or my mom's tick about cheering people up. But, whatever it was, I was hell-bent on turning Leah Clearwater's perpetual frown upside down...


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Almost 7 months and 0 updates. S-S-S-Sorry! I swear it will never happen again! I am so ready to be DONE with this story (believe me!) and I almost am. I will be updating weekly...if not more than that. There will be 5 more chapters after this one. Hooray!**

**Thanks for stopping by!**

**And, here it is...lucky #13:

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Chapter 13: Realization

As I drove home from Leah's apartment, I thought about looking up that old song on the internet. I had played it on the piano without ever hearing it and it made Leah cry. Any song able to get a tear out of her was a song that I _had_ to hear!

"This is for you." Edward handed me an old CD case before I barely made it into the house.

Suspiciously, I took it from him and examined the cover. It was a Bruce Hornsby album titled "The Way It Is". Edward had been reading my mind...very thoroughly. I shot him an accusing look and he gave me a secretive wink as if to say that it was just between us.

"I can write-up the sheet music if you would like to practice it," Edward offered with a hopeful smile.

I knew he was probably excited by the fact that I had finally put his old piano lessons to use, but the only way I'd practice it was if Leah took me up on my offer to teach her.

"Nah," I said, shaking my head, "But, thanks for this."

I gestured to him with the CD case before heading up the stairs. Once in my room, I closed my bedroom door behind me and then walked over to the dresser that sat across from my bed. I popped the CD into my multi-formatted sound system that could play everything from vinyl records to USB albums. I then pushed play and dove for my bed, causing it to bounce under my weight as I landed. The song that could make Leah cry began to fill my room up with piano tones followed by that popular synthesizer-bass used in the 1980s. I rolled over on to my side to face the window and propped my head up on my elbow as a man started singing. As I stared out to the darkness that cloaked the trees beyond my house, the lyrics that Leah's sheet music hadn't offered me, sounded in my ears. The words were sort of sad, but overall, the song seemed hopeful. I thought of Leah and her dad as the song played on. I thought about how much she had to miss him; probably an amount I couldn't imagine. And then, I thought back to how Leah had mentioned that this song came out the year she was born. As the piano sounds again filled my room, I decided that the music was just as timeless as Leah, but not quite as beautiful.

* * *

The sound of the idle car engine hummed from behind me as I took the apartment's single staircase by twos, reaching the second floor in a millisecond. The number 4 glowed bright red from its place on her door like a street light signaling "stop". With a devilish smile, I turned to the side and lifted my leg like the main character from "The Matrix" as I gave the door one fatal, pulverizing kick. The door exploded, sending wooden pulp into the air so thick that it formed a cloud of woody mist. Through the smoke I could see her standing still, frozen with shock as she clutched at the wooly towel that was the only thing covering her. I let out a wolfish howl and stepped through the smoke as I advanced on her, her copper skin shimmering with the drips of water that beaded temptingly down her limbs. She took a step back and opened her defiant mouth to spout out a slur of curses as I came within reaching distance.

"Shh," I hushed her as my hands shot-out for her waist, pulling her against me as my lips pressed to hers.

She pushed at my chest, putting up a tough but unsuccessfully fight beneath my grasp. But then, with an aggressive moan, the girl submitted, giving-in as she wrapped her arms eagerly around my neck. She kissed me back with a raging fury, her hot mouth melting to mine as my hands searched her body, looking for the opening of her towel. She murmured my name against my lips as I placed my hands inside of her towel and moved them upwards until they cupped her warm breasts, kneading her soft flesh until the fold of the towel loosened and then fell away from her. She gasped as the air hit her newly bare skin and I pulled her tight against me revealing in the feel of her nakedness against me. I leaned in to kiss her then, my lips parted, but she took a strong grip on the hair at the back of my head, stopping me.

"Say my name," she whispered as she slid a long bare leg up my side and hooked it tight around my hip.

I looked down at her leg and slowly moved my hand across the smooth, silky skin until I cupped her bottom, pulling her impossibly close against me. She took in a sharp in-take of breath and I moved my lips over her ear as I whispered: "Leah."

"WHA-"

I sprung up from the bed, panting, and covered in sweat as my heart pounded furiously in my chest, beating like war drums in my ears. I scrubbed roughly at my face with my hands, trying to rub the sleep from my eyes as my brain tried to focus on the present. But, my brain was too stuck in dream-world to focus. My brain was too stunned by the fact that I had almost had a full-on sex dream...with Leah!

"WTF!"

My head fell into my hands with a SMACK. _Ah, shit. Now I'm cussing in acronyms._

_

* * *

_

My head was still mixed-up about the Leah-dream as I checked myself in the mirror. I pulled at my lower eyelids, making sure that some alien hadn't snuck inside of my room and implanted some type of mind-control device inside of my skull. I turned my head from side to side, examining my face, but aside from the slight morning stubble—nothing was different. I sighed and placed my palms onto the bathroom counter as I shook my head at my reflection. Leah.

"_Leah?" _I thought to myself. _"Really, Caleb? Leah? She's ol-"_

I pictured Leah's scowling but youthful face in my mind. _"She's...ol-der." _

I blew out a puff of air as I pushed off of the counter and then moved for the door. Lost in thought, I walked out of the bathroom and almost into Jasper.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed as I bounced back on my heels from the closeness.

Jasper stared at me unblinkingly and tilted his head to the side like a dog who's trying to understand something.

"What is it," I asked as I searched his face.

Jasper straitened up.

"Let's just say that it's lucky for you that Edward's out hunting."

I considered that for a moment as I thought back to the dream I had had that, otherwise, Edward would have picked from my head by now. Yep. I _was_ lucky, but I would never admit it.

"Why do you say that," I asked, playing dumb.

"Because," Jasper began as he started to walk past me, "The uncertainty you _feel_ is starting to give me a headache."

_Uncertainty?_ I turned around and watched him move away, humanly-slow, as if he was giving me the opportunity to confess something about my feelings.

I gave a laugh, still playing dumb, "Uncertainty about what?"

The blond, empathic vampire stopped walking and turned his head slightly so that I could see just the profile of his face.

"You don't know what you're uncertain about," Jasper asked as if he wasn't buying my play-dumb act.

"Well, it must be about a girl, then," he whispered low enough so that only I could hear.

Before I had a chance to scoff at his assumption, pretending like it wasn't true, Jasper flew up the third-story staircase in a blur. _Damn, he's good. _My thoughts immediately then drifted to a girl. Leah. Dream-Leah. Towel-wearing Leah. _Shit!_

With a frustrated sigh I walked stiffly down the stairs, headed towards the kitchen where the smell of eggs and coffee wafted through the house. Today would be the kind of day where I'd spike my coffee with liquor...if I drank coffee and if I had— _Shit._ Liquor made me think of Leah, too.

"Morning, pup."

The voice made me jump and it woke me from my daze. Somehow I had walked right into the kitchen without noticing.

"Uh, hey," I managed to say to the 6-foot-something, Native-American who was scrambling eggs in the kitchen as I sat down on a stool at the counter.

Jacob looked over at me from where he stood in front of the stove with a spatula in one hand and his other on a pan's handle.

"What's up," he asked before he turned to scrape some eggs from the pan with his spatula, "Something on your mind?"

I swallowed.

"Uh. I'm just...just trying to wake up," I rubbed at my eyes for effect as I looked down at the counter top.

It wasn't a total lie. I _was_ trying to wake up. I was trying to snap out of this post-dream state where, suddenly, Leah Clearwater was my dream girl. But part of me wanted to hold on to it. _But...WHY!_

My brow wrinkled in confusion as I looked up from the counter, searching for an answer. All I found was that my dad was staring at me expectantly.

"Huh," I uttered as if I was missing something.

"I just asked you TWICE if you wanted to try some coffee."

Jacob looked me over and a grin started to form on his face, but he turned around before it became a full-blown smile. My eyes narrowed suspiciously as I wondered what that was about, but I didn't really care. And, I didn't want coffee.

"No thanks," I replied gruffly as I glanced around the empty downstairs, "Where is everyone?"

"Edward, Bella, Emmett, and Ness are hunting," Jacob replied without turning around, "Carlisle's working the weekend shift, and the girls are out shopping for graduation party-stuff in Port Angeles."

_Graduation. _That word caught my attention more than "Port Angeles" did. I would be graduating soon. It was something I had nearly forgotten about with everything else that was happening to me.

"Speaking of Port Angeles," Jacob said as he turned around to make sure he had my attention. And he did.

"How was your visit to the den of the Ice Queen?"

_Den of the—huh? _He meant Leah! I half fumed over his cruel nickname, and half sweated as if I was being interrogated under a hot lamp in a detectives questioning room.

"Fine," I confessed as my voice took on a slightly higher tone.

Jacob dumped his eggs on to a plate and moved through the kitchen to sit in the empty stool next to me. My mind was thinking: Leah, Leah, Leah. And, as I watched Jacob sit his plate on the counter I wondered if he knew it. I wondered what he'd say if he knew. I wondered if he'd give me advice or just laugh and tell me how pointless it was to...to... _UGH!_ I sighed.

"So you like Leah, huh," my dad asked and I froze, "I mean," he started again as he shuffled a forkful of eggs into his mouth, "You can actually stand to be around her?"

I said nothing, speechless.

Jacob gave a chuckle before he swallowed his food, "That's rare."

_Rare? _I felt a fire rise-up inside of me. He had called Leah the Ice Queen and now he was suggesting that no one could stand to be around her. I glared at him darkly before I realized I was doing it, and then I stopped. _Shit! _I was being defensive of Leah. _Damn. I've got it bad._

"She bought me booze," I blurted out almost as if I was reminding myself of her merit, "I'm underage, so, she basically committed a crime for me," I shrugged, "No one here would've done that. No one here would have let me drink."

I looked up as I realized Jacob was staring at me. He examined my face and then he grinned.

"Huh," he made a sound of disbelief, "I never would of thought that _Leah_ would be the one to corrupt my son."

Jacob reached up a hand to ruffle my hair.

"HEY," I complained and batted his hand away.

He chuckled and then shuffled more eggs into his mouth. I watched him and a cringe-worthy thought came to my mind. _Had he ever had a...thing with Leah? _I knew he had once been in-love with Bella, but— I closed my eyes tight and shook that image from my mind. Leah was his beta, his second-in-command, and even though part of the package of being a wolf was seeing each other naked...I hoped they kept it professional. Man, did I hope that.

"The others should be back from hunting, soon," Jacob spoke suddenly, "You got anything planned today?"

"_Yeah," _I thought bitterly to myself,_ "I plan to stay away from Edward-the-mind-prober until I get Leah out of my system."_

A low growl involuntarily bellowed from deep inside of me then, and Jacob nodded, taking that as my answer. Hunger. I sighed.

"Guess I better go hunt-up some breakfast."

_

* * *

_

My claws dug deep into the lifeless deer's flesh, holding its body down as I tore another opening in its belly with my fangs. Blood splattered all over my fur in a fine mist as I pulled off a strip of its fur-covered flesh and slung it into the bushes, discarding the parts I wouldn't be eating. My dad had once told me that I was the pickiest wolf he had ever seen when it came to eating raw. But, I wasn't picky; I just wanted to avoid eating any furry parts that might make me cough-up a hairball later.

_You're not done YET!_

Josh's impatient voice sounded in my mind just as the static sound that alerted my consciousness to another's buzzed inside of my head. I pulled my snout out of the carcass as I swallowed down a chunk of bloody deer liver, and then bore my fangs with a growl at the wolf I couldn't see.

_I told you not to rush me!_ I growled in warning at my asshole-of-a-cousin who had phased 2 other times in the last 10 minutes to check if I was on my way to Seth's house, yet.

_Maaan, you're a slow eater. Seriously, my great grandma Clara eats faster than you and she's got no teeth!_

A low snarl rumbled through my chest at his words and I angrily routed around inside of the deer, lapping eagerly at the warm blood and chewing furiously on the edible parts, hurrying so he'd leave me the hell alone.

_Believe me, Josh. If you didn't have the option to go home and raid your refrigerator whenever you wanted...you'd take your sweet time, too. Now get lost! _

Josh's laughter filled my head at my order, and I nearly bolted off in his direction ready to show him how serious I was. I played-out a scenario in my mind where I scalped Josh's wolf head with my fangs just to see if he'd have any skin on his head when he phased back to human.

_Okay, okay!_ Josh gave his surrender. _I'll go, but hurry up. Sometimes Leah comes over there on the weekends, and she always makes Seth give-up the TV._

My body jolted at the sound of her name just like when you're all alone and you get startled by a sudden noise. My heart was pounding, my pulse was racing and I quickly took deep breaths to slow it down before Josh noticed. But it was too late.

_Whoa! _He laughed and the sound of it had my angry lip curling up over my fangs. _Now_ _I admit that Leah scares me. But you...you must have some kind of "Leah Phobia" to get scared just by hearing her name!_

Another snarl rumbled through my chest and then passed through my fangs as a growl. The growl was so loud that it could be heard as far away as La Push, and Josh, immediately, stopped laughing.

_OKAY! _He yelled defensively. _I'm going, I'm going!_

Josh's consciousness disappeared then from mine and my thoughts were alone again. I sighed in relief and my entire body seemed to deflate as if I had been holding my breath.

_Leah Phobia? _I barked out a laugh at Josh's false assumption. _D__umb ass..._

But really, he wasn't. Anyone could mistake nervousness for fear. I was just lucky that he phased back to human before he picked up on what I really had... And, what _was_ that? As Jasper had sensed earlier, I had been uncertain; uncertain about how I felt about Leah, but I wasn't anymore. I sat my tail on the ground and raised my wolf head to look up at the tree-cover above me as I tried to define it. And then I knew. I huffed out a breath of air through my snout. It was hopeless. That's what it was. Completely hopeless. I was in-love with a much older woman who hated everything that I was. It was ridiculous. It was pointless. And I was an idiot.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Thanks to Laniessa Rosewindi, X3MonochromeX3, Xrizz, and SmileeSweetiie for reviewing! **

**Seriously, I didn't think I'd get ONE review after going so long without an update...especially not positive ones. *bows before you all* "I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy!" LOL. Anyway, a note about this chapter and the futures ones while I'm HERE...I honestly don't think that canon-Leah would ever be romantically interested in Jacob/Nessie's spawn...at least...not without some serious effort on his part to prove himself. Originally, I was going to have Caleb ****go through the wringer for Leah, but that would require more chapters. *sigh* **

**Sooo, without further ado...here's chapter 14:**

* * *

Chapter 14: The Idiot and the Ice Queen

I uncomfortably tugged at the collar of my button-down shirt as I walked down the dirt driveway that led to the old Clearwater house and away from my BMW parked at the end of it. Some of the new clothes Alice had bought me were starting to get a little tight as if I was still growing. But, I sure as hell didn't want to mention that to her. One shopping spree with Alice, was one, too many.

"'Bout time your sorry ass got here!"

Josh yelled just as I looked up to see that his head was poking out of the cracked-open front door.

"LANGUAGE," a throaty voice, heavy with age, scolded him from inside of the house.

Josh's head disappeared back inside, then.

"Sorry Sue," I heard him apologize in a low, but sincere voice just before appearing at the door again.

I grinned and shook my head at him as I neared the porch steps, but then spotted an unfamiliar black car that was parked at the side of the house.

"Whose car is that," I asked as moved towards the porch.

Josh stepped out on to the porch so he could see it and then he nodded, knowingly.

"See," he said as threw his arms in air and then gave me a look, "I tried to warn you, but you took too long, and NOW, Leah's here."

My heart gave a startled thud inside of my chest and my eyes widened at the news. Josh laughed out loud as he pointed a finger at me.

"Look at your FACE," he snorted, "You really do have Leah Phobia!"

With a scowl, I pushed him aside and headed for the door, but he stopped me with a hand to my chest.

"And look at your _clothes_," he said with fake amazement, just before his expression turned thoughtful, "Awwww, did you get all dressed-up for me and Seth?"

_Shit._ My heart skipped a beat in panic and I looked down to reassess my attire, wondering if my clothes made me look like I was dressed-up for a girl. Josh reached up both of his hands then and began straightening my collar.

"STOP IT," I yelled as I smacked his hands away, "I didn't dress-up for anyone! You know how Alice is!"

_That's right, Caleb. _I berated myself. _Blame it all on Alice ._

"Sure do," Josh laughed again, "You're nothing but her living, breathing Ken doll!"

I growled at his words, and then angrily shouldered past him into the house. The house was dimly lit, using only the windows for lighting as if they were trying to save on their electricity bill, or something. Seth was on the couch with an old wireless X-box controller in his hands and a look of concentration on his face as he worked the controls.

"Hey Caleb," he greeted me with a flash of a smile as wide as his face before his expression tightened with concentration again.

"Hey," I greeted him back as my eyes took notice of the long coffee table in front of the couch that was covered with several bags of chips and a plate of sandwiches that were stacked a foot high.

I frowned wistfully at the sight of the food as Josh pushed passed me from behind and then snagged up a bag of chips on his way to the couch. With a roll of my eyes, I followed after him, but, before I could take two steps...a _gasp_ sounded from across the room.

Seth and Josh dropped what they were doing and quickly turned in their seats as we all looked up to see the elderly woman who stood immobile in the kitchen doorway.

"You okay, mom," Seth asked and was off of the couch and at the the gray-haired woman's side an instant later.

"Oh sit down, I'm fine," Sue urged as she tried to move past him to look at me. The wrinkles at the corner of her eyes deepened as she squinted to get a better look, but ultimately she decided to cross the distance between us...

"Uh, hey Sue," I greeted, my voice sounding a little off under the awkwardness of her closeness and her stare, "Umm, how are you?"

"Fine, fine," she waved me off and Seth plopped back down on the couch with a sigh of relief at her words.

"Caleb, I can hardly recognize you," Sue beamed as her wrinkled hands grabbed for my face.

She placed a cool palm on both of my cheeks and pulled my face down to her level so that I was hunched over her. She then turned my face from side to side as she examined me with a puzzled expression. I was too weirded-out to look away, but I was still aware that Seth and Josh were watching from behind, trying to hold back their laughs.

"Hmm," Sue hummed as she lowered one hand from my face only to grasp my chin with the other, "You're a good looking kid."

A quiet laugh was given under the breath of someone I had not previously accounted for.

My head, with Sue's hand still holding my chin, turned to see Leah leaning against the door frame that led into a narrow hallway. She was wearing her yoga-instructor clothes and her expression was one of controlled-amusement. My pulse raced at the sight of her and I couldn't pull my eyes away...until Sue jerked my chin back around...

"You're a good looking kid, alright," She repeated with a nod of her head as her brow wrinkled with confusion, "But WHO in the _world_ do you look like!"

A duo of barking laughs sounded from the couch and Sue patted my cheek before she completely backed-off of my face. I stood up straight then and flexed my jaw once my chin was free from her grasp.

"You have your fathers coloring," Sue continued as she placed a hand to her own cheek, still puzzling over me, "But not his face. And not your mothe-"

"He has his _own_ face, mom," Leah interrupted as she crossed the room to where her mother stood.

Unblinking, I stared at her as one thought played on repeat in my head: _Leah knows my face?_

My mouth involuntarily did that thing where it pulls up at the corners and I ignored Leah's accompanying scowl. _She knows my face!_

"Come on, mom," Leah sighed as she led Sue away, "Let's go watch one of those mind-numbing soap operas and leave these idiots alone."

"Be nice, Leah," Sue chided as they disappeared through an open bedroom doorway, "They're good boys."

Soon after that, I could hear the TV buzz on, and then a multitude of different sounds as they flipped through the channels, but nothing else was said. I waited with bated breath to hear Leah speak again, if only to hear her spout-off a mouthful of her usual bitchiness. But there wasn't even that, there was only the sounds of the TV. I felt some kind of unknown force pulling me towards that room then, but—

"DUDE," Josh yelled the word and my eyes flashed in his direction, "Are you gonna be a statue all day, or what?"

_A statue?_ I looked down at my shoes and suddenly wondered how long they had stayed planted in that same spot. Then, I looked back up at the two guys sitting on the couch. They had their game controllers in their hands as they sent me quick, worried looks between glances at the TV screen. Uncomfortable under their gaze, I cleared my throat.

"Uh, yeah," I said, nonchalant as I shrugged off the _is-Caleb-completely-off-his-rocker _looks that they were giving me.

"Sorry," I apologized as I moved forward, "I was just—"

Leah walked back into the living room then...and the excuse I was about to make-up totally slipped my mind as I looked at her.

Her eyes fixed on mine as she passed behind the couch I was headed towards. They were cold eyes that were set in a face that expressed nothing but boredom. It was the same expression she always gave me and the other testosterone-jacked morons who could turn into giant wolves and invade her thoughts. But I wondered if, maybe, Leah was just keeping up with her role. She had played the part of the cold-hard-bitch for so long that I wondered if it had just turned into a protective façade to keep people away. It was like how she never really smiled; she made herself pretty unapproachable that way, sure, but it didn't scare me off.

"_Not one bit,"_ I thought as I stared at her.

I smiled and then gave the sour-faced Leah a _wink _before flopping down onto the couch. My heart raced with excitement from winking at her. It was a pretty ballsy move, and I wondered what she thought of it. I wished I could have seen her reaction, but it was probably just more of the same...scowls and sneers. _Damn._

"_What-the-hell do you see in her,"_ I mentally asked myself as I crossed my arms over my chest, "_She's just a bitter old wo—"_

My thought stopped short as I pictured Leah in my mind wearing the tiny shorts and tight tank top that clung to her body like a second skin...

"_She's just a bitter old woman with the body of an Amazon goddess."_

"CALEB," Josh and Seth simultaneously called my name and I quickly straightened up as I looked over at them.

"Yeah," I asked as I looked, wide-eyed, between the two other guys on the couch who were staring at me with wolf grins.

"WHAT," I growled at their suspiciously, shitty-looking smiles.

"My point exactly," Josh's grin grew even bigger.

My eyes narrowed and I opened my mouth to defend myself, but before a single syllable escaped my lips...a door opened somewhere down the hallway, followed by foot steps, Leah's foot steps! My head turned slightly as I followed the sound of her closing a door, and then hearing the click of a lock. Soon after, the sound of running water alerted my ears to what she was doing. I stiffened. _All _of me stiffened. _Leah's in the shower. Naked._

My mind automatically veered off in another direction to a tropical jungle, lush with trees and vines, where a naked Leah was bathing under the shower of a waterfall. The water came cascading down between her—

"A-HEM," someone exaggeratedly, cleared their throat and my head snapped back to see a grinning, Josh and Seth. My fantasy quickly vanished.

"What's going on between you and my sister," Seth gave me the courtesy of whispering it, "Seems like you two are something more than just 'one-time-drinking-buddies'."

I gulped, but then quickly became defensive.

"Wha—"

"Yeah," Josh interrupted, not whispering, "I told Seth how hearing Leah's name makes you jumpy. But Seth," Josh pointed a thumb over his shoulder, "Seth doesn't think it's because you're scared of her."

I gulped again as I looked between the two grinning wolves who had found me out, but I wasn't going to roll over and give them a bone that easy.

"What does Seth think," I asked as I pointedly stared at Seth.

"Well," he began with that blasted happy-smile on his face that made it impossible to hate him, "I think you like my sister."

I laughed…loud. It was a nervous laugh, but I hoped that, to them, it sounded like the regular kind, but their smiles were unstoppable. I couldn't believe that Seth had come right-out and said it like that, but he had no idea how—

"How 'bout a run," Seth suggested and the laugh that had curved my mouth up into amusement...faded.

_A run? Ha! He just wants me to phase so he can hear how I really feel about his sister! _

"Yeah," Josh agreed, "Let's race."

Just about then, the shower cut off and I could hear Leah moving around in the bathroom. I gave a small smile to the guys and then nodded.

"Ok," I lied and got up from the couch, "I'll catch up with you guys in a second, though. I gotta use the bathroom first."

Josh and Seth's winning expressions fell.

"What. You too good to hike up your leg and piss on a tree," Josh asked.

I glared at him.

"No. But Alice would say that these clothes are too good to be tied to my ankle," I quickly improvised.

Josh and Seth both laughed at me for being "whipped" by Alice, but at least the topic of Leah was temporarily forgotten. I hoped.

"Hurry up," Josh yelled over his shoulder as he started out the door with Seth behind him.

Seth gave me a look as he passed through the doorway and I wondered if he saw through my "bathroom" lie. Who was I kidding? Of course he did, but as I watched him sprint away I realized that it didn't matter. Seth probably knew, just as well as I knew, that even if I was going to the bathroom because Leah was there, and even if I did "like" his sister...Leah was a tough nut to crack. Nothing got through her shell unless she said so. And Leah, I was positive, would never let some crossbreed-kid, like me, into her shell.

"_Well,"_ I thought to myself as I slowly walked towards the hallway that led to Leah, "_Here goes nothing."_

The walk from the living room to the hallway bathroom felt like a long walk. It was a long walk filled with nervousness and great expectations. I expected, well, I _hoped_, that Leah was wrapped up in just a towel like she had been in my dream. I imagined seeing the water drip from her wet hair, streaming in lines down her neck and then down her chest where they disappeared under her towel. I stopped at the bathroom door, then. There was silence inside. I raised my hand to knock on the wooden door.

One knock...

Two knocks...

And then there was an annoyed growl from inside just before Leah opened the door and immediately crushed my single-towel fantasy. I wasn't disappointed, though. She was wearing her trademark tight tank-top and tiny shorts. My pounding heart beat faster as my eyes trailed up her body to meet her faux-angry eyes. Her eyes weren't as dark as I had thought. They were a mahogany color, red-brownish. Probably more red when she was truly angry. I swallowed as my eyes quickly glanced at her lips, remembering kissing them in my dream. My heart pounded loudly in my ears as I thought about it, and Leah, having the super-sensory to hear it, shot me a quizzical look.

"What," she asked and I was surprised that there was no _snark _behind it.

I opened my mouth to reply, but all I could do was take in a breath, causing me to smell her warm, shower-fresh scent. My brain was rendered more useless than before. She was delicious. Leah impatiently tapped her finger nails on the bathroom door she was still holding and I realized it.

"_Think, Caleb," _I mentally yelled at myself as I stared dumbly into Leah's eyes, _"THINK!"_

The figurative light bulb switched-on over my head then, and my eyes narrowed at her in accusation as I thought-up the only thing I could think-up to ask. I remembered seeing my dad this morning as he ate his scrambled eggs and questioned me about Leah, his beta.

"Were you ever in-love with Jacob?"

Leah's eyebrows lifted and she stared at me for a moment as if she was trying to make sure she had heard me right. I stared back at her all-serious looking... And then...

Leah burst into laughter, throwing her head back and placing her hand over her heart as she gave a full body laugh. The sound of it thrilled me, and the true smile she wore on her face when she looked back at me was enough to take my breath away. She was even more beautiful when she smiled. I had wanted to see it. I had wanted to make her smile, and I had done it. I looked away from her, annoyed. I just wish it hadn't come at the cost of laughing...at me.

"I'm serious," I said as I gave her a straight look, "It's important that you answer."

Leah stopped smiling and her eyebrows knitted together as she examined my face.

"No," she spat as she gave me a once-over...and then, "Wait. I take that back," my heart sunk as she looked to the ceiling, contemplating her answer, "HELLL NO!"

I gave a sigh of relief, glad that nothing had ever went on between her and my dad. But then, I wondered whether or not that made _my_ chances with her, better? Or worse? If my dad wasn't her type, then I sure as hell— _Shit._ I looked to the floor, shaking my head at myself. Leah would never go for me. I scoffed at my own stupidity as my eyes rose-up to meet hers. She was giving me the is-he-completely-off-his-rocker look. _Damn. _Shamefully, I looked back down at the floor as Leah gave a sigh._  
_

"Caleb-" She began and before she even finished pronouncing my name, I was soaring high above her, somewhere up in the figurative clouds. _She said my name!_

"You said my name," I breathed as my eyes lit-up and the corner of my mouth curved up into a half-smile.

Leah frowned and opened her mouth to, probably, shoot me down from my cloud, but I interrupted her.

"You finally used my name," I said, grinning, as I moved towards her, causing her to back-up further into the bathroom, "Not crossbreed, not kid. _My_ actual name."

I took a deep breath as I looked at her. Too blinded with my infatuation to realize how stupid I was being.

"I didn't know how bad I wanted to hear you say it until—"

"WHOA! Down, boy," Leah yelled as she put her hand to my chest to stop me from coming closer.

Her hand on my chest, her hand touching me, didn't help what she was trying to achieve. Leah quickly withdrew from touching me as if she realized it and then she crossed her arms over her chest, creating a sort of no-admittance barrier between us. My smile faded and Leah shook her head at me as if she was a mother shaming her child's behavior.

"_Oh no," _I thought._ Shit!_

She was going to lecture me! She was going to belittle me by calling me "kid", again. She was going to tell me that I was just a stupid kid with a stupid crush and— No. She wouldn't really do that! She wouldn't reject me like that, would she? She knew what it was like to be rejected. She knew how much it hurt. She wouldn't do that, right? She would let me down easy. Or, at least, not without some hope that...in the future we—

Leah gave a humorous laugh in disbelief as her eyes stared idly at the bathroom wall.

"I don't know what to say," she said, "God! I can't believe I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything," I muttered as looked at her face as she continued to stare at the wall, "I'll leave."

I turned to go, but she reached out and grabbed me by the shoulder, stopping me. My heart skipped a beat and I closed my eyes at her warm touch that instantly heated-up my shoulder and made me realize my preference for hot over cold. I stayed put then, without turning around as I decided to stay in hope, or in fear, that she would say something.

"You do realize that I'm older than your grandmother, right?" _She meant Bella._

My mouth curved up into a half-smile and I slowly turned around to see her. Her lips were pursed as she gave me her famous look of bored-annoyance.

"You do realize that I come from a family of people who don't look their age...right," I countered as I crossed my arms over my chest.

Leah rolled her eyes.

"Oh, I know," she replied, "And that's exactly why you're so screwed up."

I gave a laugh.

"Am I," I asked as I took a step towards her.

Leah raised her finger in warning and I stopped. We stared at each other for a moment. Me, looking at her longingly like a love-sick, half-brain-dead puppy. Her, looking at me like I WAS a brain-dead puppy. Leah looked to the floor and shook her head.

"I guess this is my penance for helping a minor get his hands on a bottle of rum."

_Penance? _I glared at her.

"You think it's a punishment that I l—"

"Oo," Leah said, wincing as if she knew what I would say, "Don't finish that sentence!"

"Look," she began as she quickly squeezed past me and then beckoned me to follow her out of the bathroom, "I don't want to be total bitch here, Ca—crossbreed, but whatever kind of image you've built-up, of me, in your mind," Leah walked to the front door and held it open for me, "Un-build it!"

I came to a stop in front of her and then looked through the doorway to the BMW parked outside before I looked back at her. Leah's eyes seemed sort of sad as she looked into mine, like she pitied me. My eyes narrowed at her pity and I took a dominating step towards her, towering over her as I straightened up from my disappointed-slouching to my full-height. Leah glared up at me in warning but she didn't move, defiant as ever.

"We don't always get to choose who we fall for," I said, my voice was low with anger and hurt, and for the first time, I almost wished imprinting was still around to keep the Science-of-love simple. _Almost, but not really._

"I'll come get my car later," I uttered without looking at her, and with that I shot out of the house like a rocket from a launcher, ran straight for the trees and shifted right into wolf-form.

The good, not-for-phasing clothes that Alice bought me, fell behind me in shreds as I ran for home. Josh and Seth were out there somewhere beneath the trees as wolves, and their minds were silent as they witnessed the automatic replay of events in my head. One could even say that Seth was dumbfound. But, I didn't care. It didn't matter. As I had defined before: It was hopeless! It was pointless. I was an idiot and Jacob was right—Leah was the Ice Queen.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: According to QuileuteWolfPack[dot]com (And apparently SM), today (January 14, 2011), is officially Jacob ****Black****'s 21st birthday! Woooo Hooo! So, if your of LEGAL age have a drink to Jacob...and if you're not...any beverage will do! LOL! Happy birthday, Jake!**

* * *

Chapter 15: Twice Spurned

My snout pointed straight, focusing my wolf-eyes through the darkness as I let my enemy stalk me. The vampire flew past my line-of-sight as a pale faced blur, circling me like a vulture circles a rotting corpse. Then tauntingly he side-swiped me, causing me to stumble on all fours as he tried to get me to fight, but I wasn't here to fight. I was here to die. Suddenly, the vampire came face-to-face with me and his mouth twisted up into his always hideous smile as he slowly raised an arm. Before my lip could curl over my fangs and emit an impatient growl, the fiend's razor-sharp nails took a karate-chopping slash across my neck, and my furry body collapsed on to the ground. Blood spewed from my neck as I slowly bled to death and the vampire stood over me...watching.

_**Count_Suckula:** I hear drowning also works. Hanging, poisoning, jumping off a cliff—also good choices, and they last longer._

I took the virtual headset off from around my eyes and ears, letting it drop to the floor after receiving _Count_Suckula's_ sarcastic message. I didn't bother to reply to him. I was _not_ suicidal. The wireless electrodes that were stuck to my skin at each of my pressure points, pulsated, causing my real body to shake as the life drained from my virtual wolf body. No. I wasn't suicidal, but something about simulated death was...comforting.

"STOP IT!"

A soft object collided with the side of my face, but it carried enough force with it to knock a few of the wireless electrodes off of me from the place I stood. I turned my head back in the direction that the sudden blow had come from. A tall, blond woman stood a few feet from me, sending me a death-glare as she put her hands on her hips. I noticed as I looked at the fisted hands on her hips that one of them was still clutching a couch pillow.

"You're being RIDICULOUS," Rosalie snapped at me.

I lethargically gave an eye roll and then let my gaze drop to the floor as she continued on.

"I am sick and tired of your pathetic brooding!"

I gave a lazy shrug and glanced up to see the _"Count_Suckula has defeated you"_ message that was blinking on the flat screen. I stared at it as I considered going for another round of "Fang Wars", but _Suckula_ probably wouldn't accept my challenge to fight again. Killing someone who didn't even put up a fight was only fun for so long... Suddenly, there was a cold hand at both sides of my face that turned my head downwards to meet a pair of golden eyes. Rosalie shook her head at me as she examined my face.

"What did you expect?" she asked as she stared into my eyes.

Her hands had already warmed up from my body temperature, but her eyes were still cold as she held my face.

"Did you expect her to leap into your arms, come over for dinner, and then work with Alice to make the wedding arrangements?"

My eyebrows lowered as I winced at the sting of her words. Only everyone else in my family had it that easy. It had pretty much been love-at-first-sight for all of them. But I was quickly realizing that, for most people, love wasn't that easy. Gently, I reached up to grab Rosalie's wrists and I lowered her hands from my face before taking a step back.

"No," I muttered as I backed up to the couch and then flopped down on the cushions.

Seventeen—almost eighteen—years of being around my family's constant romance-fest had deluded me into thinking that love was easy. Sure, I knew that Leah would never go for me, but that didn't make her rejection any less painful. I glared down at the floor from my spot on the couch. I reacted badly to rejection—really badly.

"You're too young to get so devoted to these girls. And, _this_ girl is too old for you!

I scowled up at Rosalie. She sounded just like Leah—bringing up the age factor—and I suddenly resented her for not "giving me space" like the rest of my family was. I really appreciated their effort to try and leave me alone. My dad could hardly be around me without smiling or busting-out a laugh so he tried to give me space. Everyone, including me, was taken aback by the fact that I had the hots for an older woman, but it was even more startling that the woman was Leah Clearwater. Surprisingly, no one in my family really knew what to say to me—no one—except for Rosalie that is. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at her as she continued her lecture.

"You should go to college and meet a girl your own age. Meet a lot of girls, even."

I raised an eyebrow at her words. I couldn't believe that Rosalie, of all vampires, would be the one to suggest that I date human girls..."a lot" of them. Then again, Rosalie probably would prefer that, to me potentially adding another "wolf" to the family. I shook my head and got up off of the couch. Rosalie silently examined me as I took the rest of the wireless electrodes off my body and left them on the couch to put-up later. I needed to get away.

"I'm going hunting," I told her as I walked out of the living room and headed for the door.

* * *

The water far below me crashed against the rocks as I stood at the edge of a cliff. I sat my tail on the ground and stared out across the ocean to the place where sky and water met. Rosalie's words hung over my head like the dark gray clouds that hung over the waves. Something about her words reminded me of Leah. Hell, something about Rosalie reminded me of Leah. Of all the things they didn't have in common—they had the same cold, bitter, spurned-by-men spirit that I was sort-of used to. Maybe that was part of the reason I had fallen so easily for the stone-cold Leah. She was familiar. She was like Rosalie who was always there to "tell it like it is" without sugar-coating it for me. Rosalie had even had a hand in naming me. I had a lot of respect for her and I valued her opinion, but this time—she was wrong. No human girl would ever be right for me. Leah was right for me. She didn't know it, yet, but she was. I understood Leah. Seventeen—almost eighteen—years of knowing Rosalie helped me to understand Leah. But more importantly, I sort of loved her.

_We don't always get to choose who we fall for._ My own words bitterly repeated in my head.

And suddenly, I wished for a vampire, a real one, a red-eyed one, one that could put my set of canines to good use, but all I got was—

_Leah, chill out! Caleb will get o—_

The sound of Seth's voice, complete with one other consciousness, jolted me as I realized my thoughts were no longer alone.

_Leah!_

_Crossbreed._

_Shit!_ Leah and I shared the same thought and I quickly considered phasing back to human. I turned away from the edge of the cliff and headed towards the trees. I didn't want to share the same head-space with her and have her mock my feelings again.

_Why? _she asked and her question stopped my paws from moving._ I think it'll be good for you! Maybe it'll snap you out of your delusional little crush. A few minutes of listening to my mind and__—just like the other shape-shifting morons__—__you'll think of me as a bitter-old-bitchy-harpy._

_Delusional little crush? _I scoffed at her words and my eyes narrowed as I scanned the trees looking for the she-wolf._ I don't need to listen to your mind to know that your bitter and bitchy. You make sure to leave that impression on anyone who ever meets you. You work hard to play-up that act.  
_

The sound of a snarl cut through the trees then and I spun in it's direction as Leah's accompanying anger filled my head. I gave a mental smile as her stubborn anger coursed through me like it was my own. I had succeeded in getting a rise out of her.

_That's my girl.__  
_

Leah's mind went shock-still from the adoration that poured out of me along with those words, and her stillness allowed me to acknowledge Seth's feelings. Seth radiated uncomfortable awkwardness as my feelings for his sister were unleashed. He cringed away from them and quickly came to a decision_—_

_Umm, I'm just going to, uh—Go!_

_No, Seth! _Leah screamed as her little brother left her alone with me.

Her thoughts turned hostile then as Seth's consciousness disappeared from our shared mind. Her hostility reminded me of the hostility I knew from Rosalie. And, it didn't bother me. My life would be incomplete if I wasn't around someone hostile, and/or someone who could occasionally invade my mind. Leah offered me both. She was the perfect package!

_You..."like" my bitchiness._

I didn't deny her observation, and through Leah's eyes, I saw the ground shift as she set her tail on the ground, puzzled. Her mind was filled with an overwhelming amount of immobilizing astonishment that made me worry about her. Quickly, I raised my snout to the sky, sniffing the air so that I would know which direction to go in.

_Oh no, you don't! _Leah protested._ You stay where you are! I don't want some hormonally charged wolf, like you, coming anywhere near me!  
_

Leah defensively got up on all fours as I ran towards the direction she was in.

_Calm down, Leah. I'm not going to mount you!_

I barked out a laugh as I ran through the trees so fast that the opposing force of the wind blew my fur straight back.

_I know you won't!_ Leah growled. _I'd rip-out your jugular before you laid a paw on me!_

_I believe it._ I laughed. _But, I'm not going to touch you, I swear. I just would prefer to SEE the girl I'm having a conversation with._

Leah scoffed at my words, and then, through her eyes, I saw her moving away.

_We're not having a conversation. _She flat-out stated and I quickly picked up my speed_, _kicking up dirt behind me._ I don't have conversations with crazy, shape-shifting, crossbred-teenagers._

I ran even harder as I spotted the cruel, gray she-wolf from a distance as she trotted away. As I approached, her spine stiffened and she looked over her shoulder to meet me with slitted eyes as I tried to slow down. Unfortunately, I had underestimated my sped versus my stopping distance... Wolf-Leah barked out a laugh as I zoomed past her with my paws skidding across the ground, digging-up dirt and foliage as I tried to stop. I gave a restrained whine then, as a tree suddenly obstructed my path, serving as my own personal blockade.

_Shit! _I mentally yelled as my shoulder hit the tree with such a force that the tree shuddered, sending leaves to fall around me as it knocked me on my back.

I rolled over on to my side, laying on the ground amongst my shame and shattered-dignity as I heard the she-wolf laughing_—_both in my head and out. I laid on the ground as I heard her four paws trot over to me, and I was hesitant to look up as I felt her hover. Leah gave a huff through her snout and I rose my head from the ground to look up at the gray wolf. Her wolf eyes_—_same as her human eyes—glistened down as if she was smiling, smiling at me. My ears happily perked up at the sight and I rolled on to my feet.

_I know this little stunt speaks for itself._ I began as I looked back at the skidding trail my paws had made across the ground. _But, aside from that...how am I crazy?_

The gray wolf turned her head away from me as I pictured her rolling her eyes in my mind.

_Because. _She began. _All of the characteristics about me__—__that everyone else hates—you like! Therfore, you are crazy. Guys are not attracted to a girl for her __bitchiness. It's a fact.  
_

With a huff of my snout, I found myself sitting on the ground in front of the she-wolf. She was trying to justify my feelings for her as craziness. I shook my wolf head as my eyes sheepishly lowered to the ground.

_I'm pretty much attracted to everything about you, Leah. Why is that so hard for you to believe?_

Leah's mind grew suspiciously quiet, giving me no hint to what she was thinking, and so I rose my head up to see her. She stared right at me, and her gaze was piercing, but her mind was as silent as if she had phased back to human. Curiously, I cocked my head to the side and marveled at her ability to keep her mind silent.

_It's not that I don't believe you._ She said. _I can see now that—ridiculous as it is—it's not just a crush, and I know you feel all heartbroken. But, __I'm not worth feeling heartbroken over. You're only 17! You should be the one breaking the hearts._

I winced at her reference to my age and my thoughts were loud with opposition to everything she had said.

_No. _I disagreed as I stood up from the ground and took a bold step towards the gray wolf._ To me, you're worth it, but I did have hopes that you wouldn't break my heart. I figured since you've had yours broken before that you'd be gentle with mine._

The she-wolf turned and trotted away from me as her feelings of guilt and regret seeped into me.

_Don't blame me for that! _She spat._ I didn't ask for your heart! All I ever did was help you get your hands on a bottle of rum!_

Leah stopped moving and then turned her wolf-head to look at me over her furry shoulder. I smiled at her. My tongue lolled out of my mouth in a wolf-grin as my mind showered her with warmth from my inner smile. A twinge of happiness came from Leah at the sight of smile.

_You know what they say about a man and his stomach. _I paused for affect._ It's the way to his heart!_

Leah shook her wolf-head at me, it was the equivalent of an eye-roll.

_I hate to bust your bubble, genius, but alcohol isn't digested the same way normal drinks are. Alcohol goes directly into your bloodstream._

_And the bloodstream goes through the heart._ I added with an inner laugh. _Huh! Well, I guess that explains how you made it into mine so fast._

I stared lovingly into Leah's eyes as hers looked into mine. She was still utterly dumbfounded by my feelings for her and how quickly they had formed and how solid they were proving to be. She had hoped that it was just a crush I would easily be able to get over, but she was slowly realizing my devotion._  
_

_Devotion? _She scoffed at the word and trotted away from me again._ You're thoughts are so ridiculously old fashioned!_

My snout wrinkled at her words and I didn't follow after her. She didn't understand. She hadn't lived with what I had lived with. My family was the epitome of "old fashioned" and blind devotion was their credo. I had grown-up around 5 couples whose love for each other never wavered. All that hopeless-romantic-chivalrous-crap was bred into me. And, don't even get me started on the whole "damsel in distress" thing, that, really set me off. And for Leah "distress" was her natural condition. Of course, her "distress" was purely mental...

_Watch it, crossbreed._ The gray wolf stopped to give me a warning growl from over her shoulder and I couldn't help but give a light-hearted laugh at her edginess.

_Sorry._ I sheepishly apologized as I gave her another lolled-tongue smile.

I felt Leah relax then as if my smile somehow had put her at ease, and I swelled with pride in hopes it was true. Of course, I didn't truly believe that my "smile" had a shot in hell at winning Leah's heart. She wasn't the typical "damsel in distress". She was the type who would sooner wither away and die in her distress than allow someone to save her from it. Sure, it made her more of a challenge, but somehow, that kind of opposition only made me more persistent. I only wanted her more.

_Oh, you're such an idiot._ Wolf-Leah groaned as she turned to trot back towards me. _You're only 17! No one your age really knows what they want!_

My thoughts disagreed. I could think of quite a few 17-year-old's who had known exactly what they wanted. Bella, most of all. But, there was only one example that would truly impact her.

_You wanted Sam._ I countered and I could imagine the red that was filling Leah's eyes as her anger flared.

_THAT'S DIFFERENT!_ She defended.

But it wasn't different. She had wanted Sam. And, now I wanted her. The only difference was that imprinting was no longer around to cause someone to break her heart.

_No._ Leah disagreed as the green scenery suddenly went flying past her vision as she ran. _That's not the only difference. I've known Sam practically my whole life. Something like...LIFETIMES compared to how long you've known me. And, I knew I wanted him long before I was 17._

_The difference._ She paused as she came to a stop near a tree. _The difference is that you're a delusional idiot who only thinks that he knows what he wants. You don't want me._

My thoughts disagreed again.

_I do, but I will admit that I sure as hell didn't plan to._ _But, like I said before...we don't always get to choose who we fall for._

Leah's thoughts saddened at my words, and soon she was filled with a combination of regret and frustration. I felt her mind pull away then as she planned to phase back to her human form. The regret she felt was overwhelming, but her mind and emotions started to desiccate as she slowly left my consciousness. Never-the-less, her parting words came in loud-and-clear...

_You're just one more annoying moron I have to hear in my head._

Then she was gone, with the exception of her words that permeated the air like a toxin. My snout wrinkled to it as I stared down at the dirt beneath my paws. I watched how I could make my claws retract and then dig into the ground. And for Leah, I would stop phasing. If it would be one less "annoying moron" in her head—I'd do it. I knew it would take me longer to get old than the average human because of my vampire DNA. But I didn't want to live for eternity with the bad luck I was, so far, having with women. There was no point in eternity if you didn't have someone to spend it with. Besides, maybe by the time my skin wrinkled and my hair turned gray—the women wouldn't be so difficult...


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I just finished the final chapter...so I decided to go ahead and posted the 3 remaining chapters. For me, classes start tomorrow! So, yeah, it's time to be done with this! Grrrrrrr!**

**;)  
**

* * *

Chapter 16: Gifts

_Caleb William Black. _The sound of my full name echoed in my mind from when it had been called-out on stage almost two hours ago. I had been named _William _after my grandpa Billy, just like my dad had been middle-named after his great-grandfather. It was sort of a family legacy, I guess, and it was what I thought of as my name was called-out during the graduation ceremony. My mind should have been thinking: "freedom"! I should have been psyched that there was no more school, but I guess I knew better. Sure, I hoped for "no more school", but my family had other ideas. They had ideas about college. I reached up a hand and loosened the black tie that was around my neck as if the mere thought of college...choked me. People with plans went to college. I had no plans.

"Caleb, do you plan on coming down stairs soon?"

I turned away from the full-length mirror I was standing in front of and glanced to my open bedroom doorway. My mom, with her hand griping the wooden frame, leaned in through the doorway, and gave me an impatient look. I clenched my jaw, dreading the thought of what awaited me down stairs.

"Caleb," she sighed as she walked into my bedroom wearing a yellow dress that matched the yellow cap and robe that I had pulled-off the second I had the chance.

"Look," she began, "I know you'd rather spend this day the way you want to, but," she paused as she looked at me with pleading eyes, "it would be rude not to come down and see your guests."

I rolled my eyes. They weren't _my _guests. They were people that Alice had invited, most of which I didn't know, or care to. This whole thing was just Alice's excuse to have a party.

"Can I at least take this thing off?" I begged as I tugged at the black coat and tie that I was wearing.

Alice had finally gotten me into a suit after having to send it back for alterations. Apparently I had grown since the time she had dragged me to the mall to get fitted for it.

"NO," came Alice's pointed answer from somewhere downstairs. _Damn this super-hearing!_

I growled in annoyance and Nessie gave me a playful punch in the shoulder.

"Come on," she said as she looped her arm through mine, "There's _presents_..."

I scoffed at her attempt to lure me with gifts and I followed her...because I had to.

We walked down the stairs arm in arm until we reached the floor and she pushed me out into the living room where all the people were. Nessie then joined my entire family and a bunch of "extras" who were all packed into the living room, making it seem tiny and feel claustrophobic. I swallowed at the sight of so many faces, and, at the sight of _my_ face, they all proceeded to greet me with a chorus of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow." My skin heated up, turning red, and I had to force myself not to turn and run in the opposite direction as they serenaded me. _Shit, this is awkward! _

"...which nobody can deny," they all finished singing in unison with applause and cheers.

When it all stopped, I sighed in relief and lifted up my arm to wave them a forced "thank you". Man, I wanted to get out of there! I moved through the mob then, getting patted on my back and congratulated by strangers as I passed them. I headed for the kitchen. The kitchen always seemed like a sort of sanctuary, even though I didn't eat from there anymore. Unfortunately, the wolves also considered it to be a sanctuary. I shook my head as I looked at the guys standing near the food-covered counter. _Where there's food, they will come. _

"CALEB!" Josh, Seth, and my dad all cheered as my Uncle Quil and Aunt Claire smiled from behind them.

I gave them all a tired wave. I was tired of all the crowds, first from the graduation ceremony, and now from this stupid party. But, at the very least, the constant flow of people had seemed to keep my mind off of other things, things I tried hard not to think about.

"Congratulations," Claire greeted me, "We got you a little something. It's on the table over there."

I followed her pointed arm across the living room and past the top of strangers heads to a table piled with presents. _Shit. _Presents required gratitude.

"Umm, thanks," I forced myself to say as I gave her a quick hug and then turned to my dad.

I leaned over to whisper to him before someone else could say anything that might require my gratitude or a discussion about my uncertain future.

"Who are these people?" I threw a thumb over my shoulder as I looked at him, curiously.

Jacob leaned forward, looking me hard in the eye, "Do they really look like people to you?"

I turned around to take a better look and I noticed, first, their paleness, and then their strange colored eyes. I glared at Jacob.

"Can't believe you're still making cracks about vampires," I grumbled.

Jacob shrugged, "I live with them. I have more reason to complain now than I ever did."

"Oh, you'd complain either way," my Uncle Quil added, smiling, as he elbowed Jacob.

Before I could catch my dad's comeback, a small hand grabbed my arm and jerked me back into the crowd.

"You've been hiding out in your room for almost a week! You are NOT going to be antisocial at your own graduation party!"

"WHAT!" I complained as Alice pulled me towards the mob of strangers, "Didn't you see me? I was just socializing."

"That doesn't count," Alice spat as she led me around the room, orchestrating my social-network for me. I bit my tongue and forced a smile. _Let the "partying" begin..._

* * *

A window at the back of the house provided me with a short escape from the party, but I knew someone would come looking for me soon. I leaned my side into the window frame as I stared up at the storm clouds that hung low over the trees. The sight of the forest made me wish that I was on the other side of the window, running on all-fours, feeling the wind brush against my fur, but— _Damn._ The monotony of voices from the living room suddenly became over-powered by the sound of jogging foot steps, foot steps that were nearing me.

"Hey," Josh greeted from behind me, "Did you know there's a vamp in there who can make water float in midair!"

I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah," I said, disinterested as I continued my stare out the window, "His name's Benjamin."

Josh huffed in disappointment at my lack of interest, and then...

"Well, I bet you can't guess what Seth is doing right now..."

I turned my head so he could read from my expression how much I didn't care. Josh frowned at me and then I looked back out the window, ignoring that he was still standing there. I was determined not to move unless someone with more authority came and told me to...someone like Alice.

"Oh," the one word was loaded with so much spite that I almost moved, "'Guess you must be thinking about she-wolves, huh? Well, don't let me interrupt you."

A tremor of anger shot down my spine and I closed my eyes tight trying to calm it.

"FINE," I growled as I shouldered past Josh and headed back towards the living room to see what was so damn interesting.

I scanned the room with angry eyes. The vampire mob seemed to have thinned out, but really it was only because they were now dispersed into individual groups. Bella and Edward were talking with the Amazon women, while Emmett and a crowd of others were surrounding Benjamin as he put on his water show. My dad stood alone. A plastic cup was slowly being crushed in his hand as he glared at something. I followed his line of sight to my mom. She was twirling a strand of her bronze hair, mindlessly, around her finger as she laughed with the dark-tanned guy who had the man-braid. _Nahuel. _I remembered his name as Jacob causally strolled over to them and put a possessive arm around Nessie.

"There," Josh whispered, pointing his finger, as he pulled me over so that I could see past my parents.

In the opened-up space attached to the living room, where Edward's piano sat, Seth stood with a plate of food in his hand as he talked to the pretty girl with the dark-tanned skin. Alice had introduced her to me as, Pilar, Nahuel's little sister. I watched as she giggled at Seth's joke and then reached up to wipe a crumb from his face after he took a bite of his sandwich. Seth gave her his big smile then. It was the same smile that, except on rare occasions, could make anyone smile back. The girl brushed her long, wavy black hair from her face as she smiled up at Seth. They then starred into each others eyes, smiling, for a long moment, and I looked away feeling as if I was intruding.

"...wow," was all I could say as I turned my back from the sight that looked like a scene from some cheesy, romantic movie.

If they would have been a channel playing on the flat screen, I would've turned it. If they would have been a song blaring on the speakers at a party, I would've left.

"I know," Josh agreed, "You should have seen them before. They kept making secret glances at each other and then they'd smile about it when they caught one another looking. It was getting pretty gross so I came looking for you..."

"Hmm," was the only sound I made as my eyes mapped out the least populated path to the staircase. I had to get out.

"So," Josh began, "Are you sure imprinting is a done-deal? Because they—"

I walked off before Josh could finish his sentence. I didn't want to talk about imprinting and I sure as hell didn't want to see a Clearwater in some romantic scenario. Everyone gave me a look as I passed through the living room to get to the stairs, but no one tried to stop me. I must have been putting off enough negative energy to even repeal the vampires. No one made a move to follow me. When I got to my room, I crossed the floor and unlatched my floor-to-ceiling window. I gave the two large panes of glass a push, causing them to fly open like shutters until there was nothing but air between me and the outside. A breeze of fresh air blew-in around me and I took a deep breath, breathing it in. As I leaned forward, it occurred to me that I should change clothes before I jump out of the second-story window and phase, but I didn't care. _Consequences be damned. _My feet took a step forward, balancing on the edge as I looked down at the ground below me. I bounced on my feet a few times, preparing to propel myself out of the window until I heard the sound of a car pull into the driveway. I took a step back into my room and a breeze again blew at me. This time it carried a familiar smell with it that kick-started my heart into overdrive and caused my body to heat up. With bitterness, I clenched my jaw, grinding my teeth together from the affect her scent had on me. It wasn't fair how she could affect me so much when I knew nothing good would ever come from it. My eyes narrowed as I heard the front door open.

"Welcome, Leah," Esme's voice was enthusiastic, "Come in!"

"Thanks," Leah's reply was less than enthusiastic.

I walked forward then, slowly, carefully, unsure if I would be able see her and keep my cool.

"Is something wr—"

"WELL, WELL," Jacob's surprised voice cut Esme off, "To what do we owe this great displeasure?"

I neared the stairs and caught the first glimpse of her as she sneered at my dad.

"Fu—"

I was almost sure she was about to cuss until she saw me take the first step down the stairs. Her eyes locked on mine and then moved downward as if she was assessing what I was wearing. It was probably the stupid tux. It made me look like a bad impersonation of James Bond. _Damn Alice and her preening ways!_ Leah's eyes, which were filled with warm brown, surprisingly, didn't seem to mock my tux. Her eyes looked at me in a different way; in a way I couldn't describe! I couldn't tell whether it meant something bad...or something good. I gulped as our eyes connected. I had never wanted to borrow Edward's ability so bad in my life! _What was she thinking!_ I descended the rest of the way down the stairs with my eyes locked on hers, and her not looking away. When I reached the floor, I broke our gaze and made a move to head back to the "party", but her voice stopped me.

"Hey," she said, her tone was cold, "I left something in my front seat. Go get it."

I stopped and clenched my fists at my sides before I turned around to face her. She was ordering me around like I was a kid again, and it made an angry fire shoot up my spine. Jacob looked between us with interest as I glared at Leah.

"Go," she repeated, cold as ever and then turned around to give Jacob a "piece of her mind".

With a low growl, I breezed past her and then out the front door where her black car, black as her heart, was waiting. I opened the passenger door and froze as I saw what sat on the seat. It was a wrapped gift that had a little bow on it that was attached to a tag, and it was suspiciously in the shape of a liquor bottle. I carefully picked it up off the seat by it's neck, causing the liquid contents inside of the bottle to slosh around. Once it was tightly in my grasp, I opened the tag with one finger and read the message inside.

"_Because it's true"_, Leah wrote, _"we don't get to choose who we fall for, or, who we __stop__ falling for."_

The bottle felt like a lead-weight in my hand as I thought about what her words meant. I assumed she must have been referring to Sam Uley. _Who we __stop __falling for. _She probably tried about everything she could think up to stop loving him, and...I suddenly wondered if any of it ever worked? The sound of the front door opening caused me to turn around. Leah shut it behind her and then walked towards me. She was wearing the tiny shorts and tight tank top that showed so much of her perfect, copper skin, while I wore a stupid designer suit with a name I couldn't even pronounce.

"I'm surprised you haven't unwrapped it," she said as she pointed at the bottle, "You look like you could use a drink."

I laughed, humorously at that fact. Our last encounter, the one where we were both in wolf-form, ranked high on my reasons-to-drink-list. But suddenly, it seemed like a distant memory, and I felt better than I had in days. When nice-Leah was around I felt the "buzz" of alcohol without actually drinking any. She was _that_ intoxicating. I gave her a small smile.

"Thanks," I said as glanced down at the bottle, "It's the best gift I've received today and I haven't even opened the others."

Leah rolled her eyes at that and then walked over to me until she stood within a foot away. She eyed me up and down, examining my attire with a raised eyebrow.

"Wanna get out of here?" she suddenly asked.

My eyes widened and my jaw nearly dropped to the ground. _Did I hear her right! _Leah sighed in annoyance as she noticed the way I was stupidly gawking at her.

"Uh, what?" I managed to ask as I blinked out of my stupor.

_Was Leah Clearwater offering me a ride!_ I tried not to think about the AWESOME multiple-meanings that thought implied. Leah shook her head at me as if she read my thoughts and then walked off towards the drivers side of her car.

"I'm not going to ask twice," she said as she opened her car door and gracefully slid inside.

_She WAS offering me a ride!_ I gave my house one more look, wondering if Alice or one of the others would come running after me if I got inside of her car. And then, with a careless shrug I slid into the passenger seat. I half-felt like I was in a dream as I closed the car door behind me and then looked over at the woman in the drivers seat. As Leah cranked the engine and then sped off like she couldn't get away fast enough, it didn't even occur to me to wonder where we were going. I didn't care. I just marveled at her.

"UGH," she suddenly shivered in disgust, "That place reeks! Even if vampires don't stink as much as they used to—get a bunch of them together in a well insulated place and it's Stink City! UGH! I don't know how Jacob's been able to stand it all these years!"

"Love," I blurted out the word and she shot me a look that made me gulp, "It, uh, can make a lot of intolerable things...tolerable."

Leah examined me for a moment longer before putting her eyes back on the road.

"Still," she began, "That's one intolerance I couldn't put up with."

"Then, why did you come here?" I quickly asked her and she sent me another look.

I watched her knuckles turn white as she clenched the wheel, pursing her lips as she glared back at the road. It was a valid question. She had made it pretty clear that she didn't want anything to do with me. I was just "___one more annoying moron" __that she had to hear in her head____..._ I looked down at the bottle I held in my hand, wondering why she'd bother to get me, a moron, a present, and not just that, but then "wrap" it, too! A corner of my mouth curved-up into a half smile as I shook my head at her confusing logic. If she wanted me to stop thinking about her—she was doing a piss poor job at helping me.

"This is my way of apologizing," she said as her eyes stayed glued to the road, "You'd be smart not to question it."

Her warning had me smiling from ear-to-ear as we drove down the road headed towards Port Angeles. I didn't dare ask her where she was taking me. It was wishful thinking that she'd take me up to her apartment. Once there, maybe I could give her that piano lesson, or, maybe she could be the one to teach _me_ something. I held back a laugh as I looked out my window at the scenery flying by. I didn't care where we went as long as she was the one taking me there.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Explosions! The Earth is moving!

We dodged past trees and overgrown foliage as we walked the rest of the way towards our destination. Leah had driven us to Port Angeles. We didn't go to her apartment, sadly, but instead we went to the old pier that was behind the liquor store. It was sort of "our" place, I guess: A forgotten pier—conveniently located near an abundance of booze. Of course, Leah would deny it. She would argue that nothing was "ours" and I'd allow her to go on thinking that way, even though—I knew better. And, I did.

"Pretty soon you're going to have a vampire for an in-law," I teased Leah as we walked through the trees.

Leah shot me a "you must be crazy" look.

"What are you talking about?"

I grinned at her, satisfied that I'd managed to get a rise out of her. She probably thought that I was talking about _me_.

"You should have seen your brother back there," I said as I pointed my thumb over my shoulder for effect, "At the party, he looked like he was in-love!"

Leah stopped as we made it through the trees to where the old pier stood.

"With WHO?" she spat as she glared at me with her hands on her hips.

I walked past her and sat the bottle of rum on the ground so I could take off my black coat. The pier had four wooden support beams holding it above the water and I hung my coat on the tallest one. I heard Leah's foot tapping on the ground then as I reached down to pick the bottle back up. I smiled as I looked over my shoulder to see her.

"He looked like he was in-love with this half-vampire girl named Pilar," I told her as I tried to hold back my amusement, "Man, you should have seen the way they were looking at each other! It was as if "imprinting" had risen from the dead," I bit back a laugh as Leah's face turned red with rage, "Yep. You'll probably be a aunt pretty soon."

A growl escaped from Leah's lips as she stormed towards me.

"GIVE ME THAT," she yelled as she ripped the bottle from my hands and marched to the end of the pier.

I gave a small chuckle as I watched how she plopped herself down on to the wooden boards and then popped the cap off the bottle.

"That is soooo like Seth," she hissed as I walked over to join her.

I rolled up the sleeves of my white dress-shirt as I watched Leah take a drink from the bottle.

"Here," she said, handing the bottle back to me as I sat down beside her, "You better take this before I drink it all."

"Aw, come on," I baited her as I sat the bottle down between us, "It's not so bad. As long as he's happy it shouldn't matter who—or what—he likes."

Leah humphed at me as her legs swung over the end of the old wooden pier.

"That's easy for you to say," she spat, "You're one of _them_."

I shook my head at her words as I looked out across the gray water made grayer by the gloomy sky.

"I'm one of you, too," I muttered as I glanced her way.

She didn't look at me as I stared at the side of her face, waiting for her response.

"Yeah, you are," she agreed with a sigh of surrender, "You're a mutant-mixture of both. That's why I call you "crossbreed"."

Her head turned to look at me and the corners of her mouth twitched a bit as her eyes twinkled with amusement. I couldn't help but to smile in response.

"Thanks," I said dryly, "I should probably come up with a nickname for you. It's only fair, after all."

"Don't even," she warned as she glared at me.

I gave a laugh and drew a cross over my heart with a finger, promising not to give her a nickname.

"It's because you already have one, right," I asked and her head turned away to stare down at the water, "I've heard people call you "Lee-Lee" before."

I shrugged my shoulders at the nickname.

"I like "Leah" better, though," I said as I smiled at her, but she didn't even look my way.

She stared off into the distance; maybe at a boat in the harbor, or maybe at the horizon where water meets sky.

"I never liked the nickname very much," she admitted in almost a whisper, "But Sam had given me that name, so it was sort of," she paused as she took a deep breath, "special."

Confusion wrinkled my brow as I examined her face. She looked peaceful, sort of happy, and I noticed how her mouth was almost curved into a smile. _Was she thinking of Sam! Did he bring her happy thoughts! _Suddenly, the bottle of rum was singing to me and I grabbed it off of the pier. Quickly, I took a long swig of the liquid and the rum burned it's way down my throat as I swallowed it. The burn distracted me from being jealous of Sam.

"_Competition,"_ I thought bitterly of the word as I set the bottle down between us, _"Sam is still my competition."_

I glared off at the choppy, gray water until I heard the silent-Leah's movement. Leah picked up the bottle of rum, causing its liquid contents to _slosh_. I watched as she drank from the bottle I had just drunk from. Her lips were pressed to the top of it just as mine had been. I wistfully wondered if this would be the closest I'd ever get to kissing her. She took a bigger swig than me and then placed the bottle back down without looking my way. I could tell she was thinking about _him_.

"You still love Sam, don't you?" I asked as I stared at the side of her face.

Leah took a deep breath and reached for the bottle again. I quickly slid my hand under hers and grabbed the bottles neck before she had the chance. I watched her scowl at me as I pressed the top of the bottle to my lips where hers had just been. As I took another drink, I wondered if she realized how significant it was, to me, that we were drinking from the same bottle. I half wanted to ask her why she wasn't afraid of my "vampire cooties".

"Part of me," Leah began as I pulled the bottle from my mouth, "Will always love Sam."

I nodded as if I already knew that and glared down at the bottle. I briefly considered breaking it, crushing it in my grasp, but then I felt her eyes on me. I looked over to meet her mahogany gaze. Her eyes were filled with a warm brown like hot chocolate, and they set me on fire. She had compassion in her eyes and I quickly realized that it was probably the closest I'd get to love from her. I felt like I could melt under her gaze, turn into a Caleb-puddle, and seep through the cracks in the pier. _Was that lame, or what? I guess it was just love._

"I will always love Sam a little bit," she began as she looked down at her swinging feet, "That's part of the reason why you shouldn't waste your time pining for me."

She gave a bitter laugh as she said it, and I had to admit that the word "pining" was laughable, but it was still true. I did pine for her.

"I learned long ago," she continued, "That I'm not cut-out for relationships anymore. It took a couple rounds with a few other guys for me to figure that out."

I gulped at her words. _A few other guys. _Man, was I out of my league!

"I always break it off with them before they have the chance to."

I took another swig of the bottle, griping the neck tight as I thought about how much I hated Sam. He was the reason Leah was afraid to take a chance on love again. I wished I could have known the Leah-before-Sam. I was positive that she had been amazing!

"We should paper the Uley's house," I angrily suggested as I pulled the bottle from my mouth, "No. I take that back—we should paper _and _egg the Uley's house!"

Leah laughed and jerked the bottle from my grasp. The sound of her laugh excited me. I watched as her lips curved up into a little smile as she pressed them to the bottle where mine had just been. My pulse was racing and my temperature spiked as I imagined that I was that bottle. _Man, did I wish I was that bottle!_ I watched her tilt her head back as she took a drink. My eyes traveled from her mouth down to her long, slender neck that was exposed from the tilting back of her head. I watched the movements in her neck as she swallowed the rum. The copper-colored skin of her neck looked so smooth and so irresistible. I thought about pressing my mouth there. I wondered how she would react. Would she like it? Would it make her giggle? Would it make her moan? I gulped at the thought.

"I want to kiss you," I blurted out the words without thinking of the consequences.

Leah looked at me, wide-eyed with her lips parted in surprise. She put the bottle down on the pier then, and searched my eyes as I looked at her hard and serious. Her usual steady pulse had accelerated. I could hear it and it only made me want her more. I clenched my fists tight as I tried to distract myself from just kissing her without her permission.

"Well," she said as she looked me in the eye, "What are you waiting for?"

My eyes bugged out of my skull. My heart dropped from my chest and then rolled off of the pier to plunge into the water. _She said—WHAT!_ I watched as Leah moved the bottle of rum behind herself so that there was nothing between us, and then she turned, sliding one leg underneath herself so that she was facing me.

"What are you waiting for, crossbreed?" she repeated as she raised an eyebrow at me in challenge.

I narrowed my eyes at her challenge, wondering if this was some kind of trick, but I wasn't going to wait to find out! I slid one leg underneath myself so that I was facing her and then reached out my hand. She watched me carefully as I brushed her short black hair away from the side of her face, exposing her long, slender neck. I rubbed my thumb across the smooth skin there and then moved my hand to the back of her neck, cradling her head as I slowly leaned forward. Her eyes were on me, showing me no sign of emotion as I leaned in like I was going to kiss her lips. I watched, then, as her long black eyelashes fluttered shut and her lips parted in waiting for my kiss, but I wasn't going to kiss her lips. A corner of my mouth curved up at her expectation and I quickly dodged her puckered lips to place mine on the spot just under her ear. I felt her body jolt in surprise under my lips as I kissed her neck, tasting her warm creamy skin. Her sweet, clean scent was all around me, filling up my senses as I tasted her neck. Something deep inside of me wanted to sink my teeth into her flesh as I felt her pulse under my tongue, but I ignored the urge. The beating of her heart grew louder in my ears and it made me very aware of her desire for me. It grounded me, controlling me from giving into my instinctual urges. I reached out my other hand to grab her waist, pulling her closer to me as my mouth made hot trails down her neck. A small sound of pleasure escaped Leah's lips and she slid her hands up my buttoned-shirt to wrap them around my neck. I pulled back then, wanting to see her face, but I was met with some resistance as her hands tried to hold me in place. I chuckled as her hands, which were clasped behind my neck, finally allowed me to pull back. Her lips were pouty as she looked at me and her eyes were heavy lidded. I smiled at her.

"'Guess the idea of kissing a vampire—a part-vampire at least—has grown on you."

A grin broke-out across my face as Leah rolled her eyes at me.

"Shut up," she muttered as her hands grabbed my shirt collar, pulling me towards her as she pressed her full lips against mine.

I couldn't help but to smile under her lips. _Leah Clearwater was kissing me! _I pressed my lips to hers just as eagerly as she had to mine, wrapping my arms tight around her waist and pulling her on to my lap so that there was no air between us. As she moaned against my mouth, I couldn't help but wonder if it was really me that she was kissing. Leah opened her mouth to mine, allowing my tongue to explore new reaches as my hand slid up the back of her shirt and explored her hot skin. With my palms pressed to the bare skin of her back and her mouth kissing me as if I wasn't the "crossbreed": the spawn of her Alpha and a half-vampire—I wondered if she was imagining that I was Sam. _Who does Leah think she's kissing?_

An electric shock flew from the palms of my hands and buzzed against her skin causing her body to jump under my grasp. My head was quickly filled with a flood of images and an overall, encompassing sense of desire. As if I was looking through Leah's eyes, I saw the smile and the grins she received from—what she considered was—a handsome face. My chest swelled up with glee as I recognized my own half-smile on my own face through her eyes. I was a smiling fool as Leah shoved away from me. My eyes twinkled with stupid happiness and my lips curved up as far as non-humanly possible as Leah slugged me in the face. I involuntarily reached up a hand to where she had punched me, lovingly caressing my reddened cheek as if her lips had been there instead of her fist.

"Wipe that stupid smile off of your face," Leah hissed at me and I snapped back to reality to do as she had asked.

Leah was standing over me, tapping her foot angrily on the pier as she glared down at me from where I sat. _Uh oh. _I quickly jumped up to my feet with my arms open towards her, apologetically.

"Shit. Leah, I'm sorry. I couldn't help—"

"Don't," she raised up a hand to silence me and I half-wondered if I should get down on my knees and beg for her forgiveness.

"What did you just DO?" she asked as she put her hands on her hips.

I gulped under her mahogany gaze, which had suddenly become reddish with anger.

"I-just-wanted-to-make-sure-you-weren't-thinking-of-someone-else-when-you-were-kissing-me," I blurted it out like it was word vomit.

Leah's arms dropped from her hips and fell slack at her sides as she curiously looked me up and down. I gave a sigh of relief as her eyes seemed to turn brown again. She crossed her arms over her chest then and self-consciously looked down at the pier.

"_Oh_," she said as if it was a question, "And, what did you find out?"

I took a deep breath and the air that filled up my lungs made me feel like I was floating. Leah looked up at me through her eyelashes and a corner of my mouth curved up as I took a step towards her.

"I found out," I began as I threw my arms around her, burying my face into her neck and pulling her into a tight hug, "That you like me a little more than you show me."

Leah's arms, which my hug had pinned to her sides, put up a good struggle to break from the confines of my arms. I loosened-up my grip around her, allowing my hands to fall to her waist as I gave her some space. Leah sighed in frustration and crossed her arms over her chest as she scowled at me.

"So _what_?" she scoffed. "It's probably just some remnant of your bloodsucker DNA—you know—that whole "dazzling" effect that leeches have on people."

I laughed and shook my head as my chest rose-up with a prideful intake of air.

"Nah," I disagreed as my hands playfully squeezed at her waist, "It's just my irresistible charm. Drives all the girls crazy."

Leah rolled her eyes at that and tried hard not to smile.

"You're not _that_ charming," she said as she looked up at me with bored eyes, "But," she paused as she uncrossed her arms to adjust my shirt collar, "You do look pretty charming in a suit."

My smile was big enough for the both of us then and with my hands on her waist I pulled her against me. Leah roughly pushed at my chest, giving me a warning look as I held her against me with an iron grasp.

"Don't fight it," I said with a grin, "You know you want me."

Leah raised an eyebrow.

"Don't push your luck, kid. I'm not as dainty as your last girlfriend. I can kick your ass!"

I gave a hearty chuckle and it caused the two of us to shake from my laugh.

"Girlfriend? Hmm. You're defining our relationship already, huh," I teased.

Leah growled and gave me a serious look.

"I'm trying to be nice, crossbreed. But, do feel this knee," she asked as she thumped her knee against my leg, "If I have to, I'll raise it up, and then—it won't be _me_ that you'll be holding on to."

"Aw, Leah. Don't make threats," I said as I ran a hand, soothingly, over her back, "You wouldn't want me to "shock" you again. And, this time," I paused, "The information I go probing for won't be so...innocent."

Leah's eyes widened and she pointed a finger in my face that was so close it grazed my nose.

"Don't you EVER do that again!"

I sighed and then smiled as I stared into her eyes.

"Yes, ma'am," I swore to obey, "Anything you say, ma'am."

My eyes darted between her eyes and her lips as I leaned in for a kiss. Despite all of her defiance, Leah had no opposition to kissing me. She laced her fingers through the hair at the back of my head as she pushed all of her weight into me, getting as close to me as non-humanly possible. I wrapped my arms around her just as tight, feeling through "intuition" and not by my electric touch that—somehow—she needed to be held extra tight. I could hold her tighter than all of the other guys—probably human guys—that she had been with, and I wanted to. Leah's lips broke from mine then and we pulled away as we stared into each others eyes.

"Caleb," she said my name and then gave me a small smile as she heard how my heart was thudding inside of my chest.

"I'm not promising you anything," she said as she searched my eyes, "And, I'm not holding you to any kind of commitment. I don't want that and you're too young for that."

I rolled my eyes as she brought up the age factor again, and my arms dropped from around her.

"_Way to kill the mood,"_ I thought, but I ended up smiling at her anyway.

She was, at least, giving me a chance. But, why? Why all-of-a-sudden was she taking a chance on me?

"I'm not complaining or anything," I began, "But I just have to ask—what's with this sudden change? A few days ago when I tried to tell you how I felt about you...you basically told me to get lost. And now—"

"Strong lips," Leah blurted out and then quickly looked away from me as her cheeks turned red.

I laughed in confusion.

"What?"

Leah sighed as she crossed her arms over her chest in a self-hug.

"Strong lips," she repeated and her eyes glanced at mine just long enough to notice that I had NO idea what she was talking about.

"Yeah," she replied to my confusion, "I didn't know there was a name for it either until I watched this old 80s movie. But, you have them," she said as she looked into my eyes, "Strong lips—the kind that make a girl go weak in the knees and then turn her into jello in your arms. I was SO not expecting that from you! I expected...at the very least...hyper puppy kisses."

I stared at her for a moment and then a laugh exploded from me. _Hyper puppy kisses! BAH HA HA HA!_ Leah glared at me as I laughed at her words. Her glare warned me that I should stop laughing and I quickly tried to keep a straight face.

"Let me get this straight," I said with a big grin, compromising for not being allowed to laugh, "Me kissing you changed your mind?"

Leah looked away from me with her chin held stubbornly high and then she just shrugged her shoulders.

"Gee, thanks," I mocked with a roll of my eyes, "I guess I'm only as good as my kiss, then."

Leah shot me a look.

"I didn't say that," she spat, "It was just an added bonus! It was just the deciding factor of my verdict on what to do with you," she paused as she noticed that I was unsatisfied with her answer.

Leah sighed in surrender and then her arms fell slack at her sides.

"It was your smile," she admitted, "It was the way your smile made me feel. No one smiles at me—not anymore. But you do. It's a real smile. It reaches your eyes and spills out on to the person your smiling at. It's almost hard not to smile back, and I didn't want to be the reason you stopped smiling."

I just stared at her and even though her words filled my chest up with happiness—I didn't smile. It bothered me to hear her say that no one ever smiled at her, and my thoughts went back to Sam. He was the reason why she had stopped smiling; I guessed that she didn't want to be mine.

"You deserve smiles," I said as my arms shot out for her waist and I pulled her into a hug, "You deserve hugs and kisses and compliments and a ton of other good things I can't think of at the moment."

Holding Leah against me pretty much limited my thinking ability to motor skills. Easily, I wrapped my arms tighter around her as I felt her place her hands on my back. The weight of her head felt good as she laid it against my chest and I laid my cheek against her hair. I almost couldn't believe that she was just letting me hold her in my arms. Truthfully, this whole day just felt like a dream, and pinching myself wouldn't prove anything to me. Leah suddenly laughed and it vibrated against my chest. It was a laugh of disbelief.

"God," she scoffed as she slowly pulled away from me, "I must be crazy! You're not even 18!"

I looked down at her with a smirk on my face.

"Guilty," I said with a shrug, "But, that's no big deal. Give it a few more weeks and I will be."

Leah broke free from my grasp and stared up at me with skepticism all over her face.

"That will still be 34 years younger than me!"

Leah winced at the age difference and then examined me for a reaction, but I gave none. She then groaned at my lack of interest and a corner of my mouth curved up into a half smile.

"Well," I said as I gave her a once over, "You're the hottest 52 year old I've ever seen."

Leah rolled her eyes at that and shook her head at me like she was disappointed.

"See," she said, "You're just a naïve little boy who thinks with his boy parts!"

I gave a laugh and considered telling her that—_a boy who thinks with his boy parts_—was exactly what she wanted, but I decided it was best not to tease her. Sometimes it was better not to say anything than risk the chance of pissing-off the girl.

"Besides," Leah added as her mouth twisted into a scowl, "You live with a bunch of walking-talking lie-detectors! And then, occasionally, I have to share my mind with Jacob, your _dad_, and a bunch of other morons!"

She grimaced at the thought and then looked up into my eyes.

"There isn't another guy in all of existence who has less privacy than you do," she said with a heavy sigh before sending me a glare, "I don't even know if you're worth the embarrassment!"

I grinned at her words and then suggestively wiggled my eyebrows as I thought of a way to prove my worth...

"Wanna make-out again?" I asked her.

Leah titled her head to the side as she considered it for a moment.

"Yeah," she agreed, "Lets."


	18. Chapter 18

**Credit: "Advice to a Young Man on the Choice of a Mistress (1745)" by Benjamin Franklin**

* * *

Chapter 18: Eighteen

"_A man is as old as he's feeling,_

_A woman as old as she looks."_

_-Mortimer Collins_

June 24, 2038

True to form, certain members of my family had badgered me for weeks about the whole Leah thing. The phrase "cougar chaser" had never been less funny. Leah, on the other hand, had started to except the idea. Her, "I don't give a shit" attitude came naturally, and she even enjoyed using _me _as a way to make our other pack-brothers shudder. It was a weird relationship. I knew it. Everyone knew it, but on this particular morning...none of that mattered.

"_I'm officially legal."_

It was my first thought as I stretched my limbs out across my bed and then rolled over on to my side to face the floor-to-ceiling-window. The cloudless blue sky was surprising to see after so many weeks of gray clouds and rain. I yawned, taking in a deep breath of air, and then suddenly, I smelled something out-of-place, something new! I sat up-right in my bed and scanned my room for the mysterious object.

"_It smells like—"_

Paper. A rolled-up sheet of paper with a tie in the middle sat on top of my dresser. I groaned at the sight of it and fell backwards on to the bed, annoyed. _Emmett! _It was, no doubt, another one of his "tips" about older women, and he had obviously snuck into my room, again, while I was sleeping. Angrily, I pulled my sheet off of me as I slid off the bed, remembering another morning when I had woken-up with a Post-it note stuck to my forehead!

The Post-it note had read: _"An older woman is like a fine wine; She just gets better with age"_.

I clenched my fists tight at my sides as I marched over to the dresser where the rolled-up sheet of paper sat. I considered ripping it to shreds, but curiosity got the best of me. Quickly, I unrolled it and with a frustrated sigh, I read-over the sheet of paper that was filled with words from top-to-bottom.

"'..._in all your Amours you should prefer old Women to young ones'." _

I rolled my eyes at the words on the paper. It was an old letter—so old that it pre-dated Edward! Also, it was written by Benjamin Frank to some random guy, and therefore it had absolutely NOTHING to do with me. I read on as "old Ben" listed the benefits of older women over the younger ones. None of his reasons mattered much to me except for one; one that I had been thinking a lot about recently.

"_'Because they have more Knowledge of the World, and their Minds are better stor'd with Observations, their Conversation is more improving, and more lastingly agreeable'."_

The whole bit about "worldly knowledge" stuck-out to me. Leah, being older, of course knew a lot more about the world than I did. So, the only solution I had come-up with that might help level that playing field a little—was for me to go to college. Oddly enough, I had been considering college a lot lately. I thought, maybe, that I could study Engineering...or maybe even Technology. I had a sneaking suspicion that I'd be pretty good at any job involving "electricity". My family definitely liked this idea. In fact, Edward had gathered up a bunch of applications after first "hearing" my thought.

"_Typical," _I thought as I rolled the sheet of paper that Emmett had left for me back up and then placed it on my dresser again.

I imagined that Emmett—where ever he was—couldn't wait to get my reaction to his latest find on the topic of older women. I gave a sigh of annoyance and decided not to make him wait any longer...

* * *

I could hear the sounds of the flat screen coming from the living room, and I could sense that my entire family was home. Sunny days had a way of keeping them all indoors...

"Happy birthday, Caleb!" My mom appeared out of nowhere and quickly enveloped me in a hug.

"Thanks, mom," I said as she rose-up on her tip-toes to kiss my cheek.

I gave her a quick hug and then tried to pull away, but she quickly grabbed hold of my arm so I didn't get very far. As Nessie's hand touched my skin, images flooded into my mind as her memories filled my head. I saw a replay of all my previous birthdays through her eyes. It was almost like how someone describes seeing their life flash before their eyes; only, this particular flashback featured a lot of birthday cake.

"Eighteen," Nessie marveled over me as she let go of my arm, "I can't believe it has taken you so LONG to get here!"

"Ah, Nes," my dad said as he walked up and threw a big arm around her shoulders, "It only seems long to _you_ because you grew-up too damn fast."

Nessie playfully elbowed Jacob in his side, and I rolled my eyes at my parents. They were two of the biggest "kids" I knew.

"Happy birthday, pup," my dad said with a grin as he reached-out a hand to slap my shoulder, "You're 18! You can finally purchase your own car and get rid of that piece of crap hand-me-down!"

I stiffened at his words about the Great Red Car and I wondered if Rosalie was in ear-shot. She probably was, otherwise, Jacob wouldn't have emphasized the "piece of crap" part.

"Heh," I gave a forced-laugh for his benefit, "Car purchasing requires money, and until I get my own—I'll just stick with the BMW."

"Good choice," Alice's voice sang from the top of the stairs, and with parting smiles, my parents walked off to the living room, "Financial independence is always a good choice."

I watched Alice fly down the stairs in that dance-movement way of hers until she came to a stop in front of me.

"Oh?" I said, curiously as I stared down at the pixie-like vampire, "Is that something you see in my future?"

Jasper zoomed down the stairs then, and assumed his statue-stance at Alice's side. Alice ignored his presence as she gave me a bored look that was meant to remind me that: Alice couldn't "see" my future.

"No, it's just a fact," she replied glumly, and then suddenly, her golden eyes lit up, "But, NOW you're of legal age to make stock market investments! I can certainly tell you what will be trending in the future!"

I rolled my eyes. I wasn't interested in buying stocks.

"Thanks, Alice, but I think our family has enough shares. Carlisle almost owns enough stocks to establish his own market," I joked, but Alice didn't even crack a smile.

Alice's mouth turned down as if my lack of interest in the stock market disappointed her. Her frown made me feel a little guilty, and I almost opened my mouth to give her what she wanted. But suddenly, as if I had been standing out in the cold, and then someone came along to throw a warm blanket around me—_happiness_ cloaked me. I shot Jasper a look and his mouth curved-up into a smile.

"Happy birthday," he said as he placed his hand on Alice's back, coaxing her to say the same.

Alice gave a warm smile to Jasper before she opened up her arms and wrapped them around me, pining my arms to my sides.

"Happy 18th, Caleb."

I smiled down at her as she pulled away, and then I looked at my surroundings. It was surprising to find that there were no "birthday" decorations hanging from the ceiling or on the walls.

"What? No party this year?" I teased as a corner of my mouth curved-up into a half-smile.

Alice put a hand on her hip, doing the "little tea cup" impersonation, as she thread her other arm through Jasper's.

"Edward said that you had plans of your own..."

And with that, Alice and Jasper moved away from the base of the staircase and headed towards the living room where everyone else seemed to be gathering. I did have plans of my own, but that had never stopped my family—Alice in particular—from making other plans for me. I shoved my hands into my pockets, puzzling over that as I walked towards the living room. The flat screen was tuned-in to a Mariners game and Josh and Emmett were sitting on the couch in front of it, while Rosalie was perched on the armrest next to Emmett. My parents occupied a lounge chair that was near the couch; Jacob was sitting in it while Nessie sat on his lap, giggling about something he had whispered into her ear. I rolled my eyes at the sight, and then spotted Alice and Jasper, who stood near the kitchen talking amongst themselves. I was, again, puzzled how everyone seemed to be doing their own thing. Even Esme was in the kitchen cooking up something that _wasn't_ for me as Carlisle sat at the table, reading over a stack of papers. I smiled at the sight of family as I came to a stop behind the couch.

"Hey, Caleb," Josh turned from the flat screen to greet me, "Happy birthday, man!"

Josh balled up his fist and stuck it out to me from over the back of the couch. I easily returned the gesture by bumping my fist against his.

"Congrats on surpassing the 'age of consent'," Emmett said with a big grin on his face as he slung an arm over the back of the couch, "I bet Leah's happy about that."

I narrowed my eyes as Emmett snickered over his own words.

"Not as happy as she would be if I was 30-years older and without vampire-relatives..."

Emmett shrugged his shoulders and blew-off my words like they were nothing.

"Minor technicalities," he waved me off and then threw an arm around Rosalie as she sat on the couch armrest, "Right, babe?"

Rosalie rolled her eyes at Emmett's words and I stared at her, knowing that she still didn't like the idea of "Leah and me".

"Not as minor as I wish _they_ were," she replied as she glanced over her shoulder to give me a look, "But not major enough to keep them apart."

At her words, I gave her a smile, and then looked up to notice that Carlisle and Esme had moved into the living room. Carlisle wrapped an arm around Esme as she seemed to shake with silent sobs. I took a step towards her, then.

"This is the first birthday that you've had that I didn't get to make you a cake," Esme cried.

I moved towards her with opened arms and threw them around her as Carlisle stepped aside.

"You can still make me a cake, Esme," I said, patting her back before I pulled out of our hug, "I'll even eat it!"

Of course, the thought of the frosting-covered, sweet-bread-like food didn't exactly cause my taste-buds to tingle. Actually, the thought gagged me. Carlisle moved to rejoin Esme's side then, and they both smiled, knowingly, at me.

"I believe you've out-grown cake," Carlisle pointed out the fact, "Or, at least, an appetite for it."

"Well, I hope he hasn't out-grown hugs!"

I turned towards the sound of the new voice just as a thin girl with dark brown hair and a tall lanky boy walked-in from the back of the house.

"Happy birthday," Bella greeted me as she rushed forward to give me a hug.

I quickly hugged her back and then glanced towards Edward as she pulled away.

"Happy birthday, Caleb," Edward said as a corner of his mouth curved up into a half-smile.

"Thanks," I replied as I looked between the young couple, who—despite all appearances—were my grandparents.

Then with a deep breath, I turned around and looked over the living room that was filled to the brim with my mystical, mythical, often-annoying family. I glanced from my overly-affectionate parents to my shape-shifting cousin; and then, from my vampire aunts and uncles to my kindly great-grandparents, who barely could pass as "parents" at all! And, I realized that this would be my first birthday to do whatever I wanted; instead of spending it with my family in whatever way Alice had planned it. I instantly felt kind of down about it. As lame as it sounded, I felt sort of nostalgic...

"Go," Bella suddenly told me as if she was the one who could read thoughts.

My surprise-filled eyes looked into her golden ones, and I quickly decided that, maybe, 32-years of being married to a mind-reader could make anyone extra intuitive.

"GO," she repeated, "And, when you come back—don't worry. I'll make sure he's blocked from your thoughts."

Bella smiled up at Edward, who couldn't help but return her smile even though he definitely didn't like getting "blocked". With a smile of my own, I shook my head at the two of them, and then, as Bella had ordered...I headed for the door. There had been no party decorations, no cake, and no presents. And, now, I knew why. My family was giving me the gift of privacy—as best as they could, at least. They were giving me privacy and allowing me to spend my day however a chose—no questions asked! I stopped as I reached the door and then turned around to look at my family before exiting.

"Thanks guys," I said as I looked around at all of their faces.

I thought to tell them that "privacy" was the best gift that they could ever give me, but as my eyes met theirs...I knew that they already knew that. My family murmured their goodbyes as I exited the house, and though I was grateful to them—I definitely wasn't going let the whole "privacy" thing get to my head. I knew enough of my family to know that "privacy", in my house, was a short-lived thing—if it existed at all. But while it did, I was going to take full advantage of it. And with that thought in mind, I headed off to Leah's apartment.

* * *

I gave up knocking after 5 attempts with no answer, but Leah was definitely inside of her apartment. I could hear her movement! I leaned my side against the door frame and waited for her to finish doing whatever she was doing so she could let me in. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait very long...

"You're EARLY," Leah snapped at me as she jerked open the door.

I jumped back from where I had been leaning and my eyebrows raised in surprise at the sight of the girl who stood in front of me. Leah had a familiar-looking virtual headset pushed back on her head and there were wireless electrodes that were attached to her skin. _Leah's a gamer?_

"WHAT!" she asked as I gawked at her, but I was too speechless to answer.

Suddenly, an impulse came over me and I found myself pushing passed Leah to get inside of her apartment. I followed her scent which lead me, like following a trail, into her bedroom. Leah protested from behind me, but I didn't care as I walked inside of her bedroom to where a small flat screen was hanging. I nearly fell backwards onto her bed from the shock of seeing the image that was on the flat screen.

"What! What's wrong with you?" Leah asked as she stepped between me and the flat screen.

My eyes flashed from Leah's face to the flat screen and then back again. Leah followed my line of sight and then turned to look at what I was seeing.

"Oh," she said with understanding as she caught sight of the source of my confusion.

Leah turned around to look at me then and her face turned into a sneer.

"You can wipe that "deer-in-the-headlights" look off your face! It's just a game," she defended as she gestured to the flat screen that showed her game character and her stats, "Just because I play as a vampire—doesn't mean I like them! It's just a game."

I took a deep breath, stepped backwards until her mattress hit the back of knees and then flopped down on to her bed as my level of shock settled into a place just between surprise and acceptance. I looked up at the flat screen again as Leah sat down next to me. The flat screen showed the _Fang Wars _character page, and the pale-faced 3D vampire that stared back at me. The vampire's face was all-too-familiar and the name labeled under the vampire was even more familiar!

"You're Count Suckula," I said and my eyes widened at my own words as I turned to face Leah.

Leah examined the shock on my face with a dark smile. It was a smile that reminded me of my old rival, _Count_Suckula,_ and the hideous, sinister way he would smile. It suddenly made perfect sense! Of course, Leah was _Count_Suckula_! Who else could possibly kick my ass so easily that it seemed that I wasn't even trying? My eyes widened as I considered the possibility that, maybe, on some unconscious level I knew that it was Leah all along, and therefore I always let her win! At least, I tried to convince myself of that. Anything was better than admitting that I had lost, repeatedly, to a girl...

"What of it?" Leah asked as she stopped laughing.

I swallowed as her words snapped me out of my thoughts and I glanced her way. My first instinct was to confess to her _who_ I was, but I feared the teasing that would ensue. On the other hand, I wasn't a very good liar. It was hard to hone in on that skill when you lived with a mind reader. I looked into Leah's expectant eyes and gave a sigh of surrender as I stared down at the floor

"I'm..._Wolfman20_," I shamefully muttered under my breath.

There was a moment of silence, then. The silence lasted a moment too long, and curiously I looked up to see Leah. The smile that was on her face was brilliant. Her white teeth shone out against her copper skin as the corners of her mouth curved-up in the most breathtaking way. It almost made me forget about my humiliating confession. Almost. But then, Leah pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as if she was trying to hold back the laugh that suddenly burst from her mouth. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared as the woman, who acted like there was such a difference between our ages, ROBL'ed. Leah was literally rolling on the bed, laughing.

"You suck SO bad at this game," she said through her laughter, "You should change your name to _PoodleMan! _That name would be much more realistic!"

More laughter erupted from her as she laid back on the bed, wrapping her arms across her middle as she continued to laugh. I glared at her and then with a growl, I attacked her with my fingers, tickling her and causing her laughter to grow. Leah didn't tolerate my tickling for long as her hands wrapped around my arms and then pulled me onto the bed beside her. I didn't bother to fight her as she rolled on top of me and then straddled my hips.

"You're fighting skills are just as bad in real life as they are in Fang Wars," Leah gave another laugh as she sat on top of me and the vibrations from her laugh set off a chain-reaction that made my pants feel like they were shrinking.

Quickly, I grabbed Leah's hips, lifting her off of me before slamming her back down on the bed. She unsuccessfully tried to fight me off, but I had grabbed hold of her wrists and pinned them at the sides of her head as I held up my weight on my elbows.

"What makes you think I was trying to fight you?"

Leah rolled her eyes.

"Right," her tone was condescending, "You _let_ me win, right? Just like the last time we battled in Fang Wars and you just stood there like a four-legged moron."

I smiled down at her that she remembered our last battle.

"That was the only time I ever _let_ you win, and thanks for the suicide tips. 'D_rowning', 'hanging', 'poisoning'. _Maybe I'll consider one of those next time you want to break my heart."

Leah glared up at me and her mouth curled up in disgust.

"If you ever talk like that again—I'll kill you myself!"

I laughed at her words and then rubbed my thumbs against the sides of her wrists as I held them in my hands.

"I'm joking," I assured her as I stared into her eyes.

"It's stupid to joke about something like that," she lectured me as she struggled underneath me to get free but then gave a frustrated sigh as she failed.

"I can't cook for you if you don't get off of me..."

A grin broke out across my face at her words. ___Leah was going to "cook" for me?_ Leah rolled her eyes at my expression.

"What were you going to cook?" I asked as I marveled down at the woman underneath me.

"Steak."

I laughed at that and Leah shot me an annoyed look.

"Don't worry about it, then," I said as I lowered my face to hers, "I like it bloody anyway, and besides...I'm not hungry for food."

My face got closer to hers until I could feel her breath.

"What about your present?" she asked in a sultry voice as she looked up at me through slitted eyes.

A corner of my mouth curved-up into a half smile at the mention of a present. She cooked and she gifted too? ___What a girl!_

"What present?" I asked curiously, rising up just slightly from her as I allowed her hands to slither out of my grasp.

"Well, it's not the traditional type of present," Leah said as her hands slid between us, and she then made a gesture of tugging at her tank top, "But..."unwrapping it" is an option."

I cocked an eyebrow at what she was offering. ___Herself...naked? _I gulped as I stared down at the she-wolf, who occasionally doubled as a male vampire, and who had an uncanny way of shocking me. Leah smiled at me as her unleashed hands traveled up my chest, moving upwards until they wrapped around the back of my neck. Leah pulled me down towards her then and I repositioned my arms so that they slid underneath her, giving support to her craning neck as she strove to bridge the distance between our lips. I watched as her eyes fluttered shut and then mine did they same as we kissed. The warmth of her lips spread to mine, causing them to tingle with fire as I imagined doing what she had offered to me. I imagined "unwrapping" her like the last remaining present on Christmas day, peeling back the wrappings inch by inch to reveal the present underneath very slowly. I slid a hand out from underneath Leah and slowly snaked it beneath her shirttail, trailing across her smooth hot skin. Leah moved under me, arching into me as one of her hands left my neck to grab hold of my waist. She fisted my shirt in her hand and kissed me more forcefully as my hand traveled far enough up-north to realize that Leah wasn't wearing a bra! I laughed against her mouth as a humorous, although semi-mood-killing, thought crossed my mind. Leah's head then fell back onto the mattress and she growled in frustrated.

"What's so damn funny?" she asked in an irritated tone as I slid my hand out from underneath her shirt.

"Sorry," I apologized for interrupting our make-out session, "I was just thinking that it's a real shame that Sam doesn't phase anymore..."

Leah rose-up on her elbows, causing me to push myself-up on my hands as her suddenly angry-looking face came nose-to-nose with me.

"Why in-the-hell are you thinking about Sam when you're kissing me!"

My face heated-up at her words. It did sound pretty bad when she put it that way, but honestly it wasn't like that.

"Jeez, Leah," I said as I ran a frustrated hand through my hair, "It's not like that! I was just thinking that—if he still phased—we could really pay him back for all of those "compromising situations" with Emily that his mind once replayed for you. Hell, we could even give him and Emily a run for their money!"

"'Compromising situations'," Leah laughed at my use of the phrase, "You've never been in a compromising situation in your life!"

My expression fell as her words hit me like a slap in the face. In truth, she wasn't entirely wrong, but it didn't change the fact that she was _slightly_ wrong. I knew that I was nowhere near as "experienced" as she was, but I had had some...close calls.I remembered back to how a bat-welding man once walked in on me as I was approaching 2nd base with his daughter. Now if that wasn't a compromising situation—I didn't know what one was.

"My ex-girlfriend's dad once walked in on us…"

As I told Leah the story I couldn't help but smile—so much had changed since then. I went from being with a girl who was bad for my health, literally, to being with a woman, a she-wolf, who was the healthiest choice I had ever made—alcohol drinking aside.

"Your ex sounds like a real winner," Leah teased as she eased herself back down on the mattress, relaxing her elbows.

I smiled down at her and moved my hand to her face, caressing her cheek as I suddenly really regretted interrupting our make-out session.

"I'm really sorry about mentioning Sam," I said, sincerely as I stared into her eyes, "Let's not talk about our ex's anymore."

Leah nodded in agreement, and as I looked at her, I couldn't help but to remember what my ex's father had once said. The bat-welding man had once told me that: _"the girlfriends that you have to work to get tend to last longer and be more worthwhile than the ones that come easy"_. That same man's daughter had come easy. Leah on the other hand was the very definition of a girlfriend "you have to work to get". In fact, she was often a _real_ piece of work. As I stared down into her warm mahogany eyes, as always, I only saw the 19 year old girl that she was frozen as—not the 52 year old that she claimed to be. Over the weeks, however, I had come to realize that that was just what she was, and though I didn't know how long we would last…every moment with her was worthwhile. Tons more worthwhile than my time with Amy had been.

"Leah," I asked and her eyes were already focused on mine, "Will you ever stop phasing?"

Leah stared up at me for a moment as her brow creased at the question, and then her head turned away from me as she contemplated an answer.

"It's been a very long time since anyone asked me that," she replied, "I've gotten so used to this life, that—even I don't think about it anymore. But," Leah paused as her head turned back to look at me, "Eventually, yes, I probably will. I mean...it would definitely suck to be on my period for all of eternity!"

I cringed at that and realized I had almost forgotten about it. It was one of the after-effects of having a Quileute with vampire DNA phase for the first time. It was my fault. I was also responsible for the death of "imprinting", and the fact that vampires and wolves no longer "felt" like enemies—a positive change comparatively.

"Hey," Leah said as she put her warm hand to my cheek, "It's okay, Caleb."

Her mahogany eyes were filled with warm brown as she looked into mine. A sweet smile played on her full lips and I pressed my face into the palm of her hand as I smiled back.

"I used to think of myself as a 'genetic dead end'," she confessed as she gave her shoulders a shrug, "But, you inadvertently changed all that. I could probably have babies now...or puppies...if I wanted to!"

Leah laughed as she noticed how my face paled, but it wasn't exactly for the reason she was thinking. Sure, the thought of babies—especially puppies—was scary, but it was just one more reason for her to stop phasing. I doubted very much that "phasing" would work if she was pregnant. She would surly have to give up one to have the other.

"So, then," I paused as I looked into her eyes, "One day you _will_ stop phasing."

Leah examined my face and then she rolled her eyes.

"If you want to know so bad—why don't YOU tell me," she challenged, "Doesn't your electro-shock-ability tell you that kind of stuff?"

I blinked, taken aback by the strange turn our conversation had taken. All of a sudden she seemed interested in my ability. My eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Yeah," I replied, confused, "But, I thought you told me never to use it on you again..."

Leah spread her arms out across the bed and then closed her eyes, making herself appear submissive.

"Just try it," she ordered me.

I swallowed as my hand hesitantly lifted off of the mattress to touch her. Once again, I slid my hand underneath her shirt, causing her to take-in a sharp intake of breath at the sudden contact. Slowly, I moved my hand around to the middle of her back where I then stopped.

"This will sting for a second," I warned her but she made no response.

With my hand pressed to her skin, I closed my eyes and asked the question I wanted and needed to know: _Will Leah ever stop phasing?_ As the _jolt _passed between our bodies, I was filled with a sense of uncertainty. There were no images that filled my head to show me the outcome. I only was left with a "feeling" of what lay ahead in Leah's undetermined future. The feeling was undeniable. The feeling was filled with interdependence, and most strangely, but exciting of all—me.

"Well?" Leah asked, wanting to know the answer as I removed my hand from her back and placed it on the mattress.

"I," I paused as I tried to think of a way to describe it, "I don't have a clear answer," I said, searching her eyes as she laid beneath me, "All that I got was this kind of "feeling" when I shocked you."

Leah considered my words for a moment before a smile lit-up her face.

"Well," she began as she slid one of her hands between mine and the mattress to intertwine our fingers, "What does this _electric feel_ of yours tell you?"

I smiled at her "name" for my supernatural ability. And then, with her fingers locked with mine, I placed our hands over her head and then lowered myself on top of her, straightening-out my arm so that my elbow no longer held-up my weight. Leah gave me a seductive smile then and placed her free hand on my back, holding me against her.

"It tells me," I began as I stared down into her eyes, my face only an inch away from hers, "That you're going to keep me around for a while."

"Oh—_really_?" Leah challenged with a playful smile on her face and I gave her a confident nod.

"Yes," I said with certainty, "It tells me that your decision to stop phasing will probably be one that we will make together...in the future."

Leah rolled her eyes at my mention of the future and then gave an annoyed sigh.

"Caleb?" she said my name and the sound of it always made my heart pound whenever it rolled off her tongue.

"Are you going to keep worrying about the future," she asked as she removed her hand from my back and then made a big gesture of pointing to herself, "Or, are you going to DO something about the present?"

I looked from her pointed finger to her face, and then realized that I was on top of a beautiful woman who had previously mentioned something about "unwrapping" her. A corner of my mouth curved-up into a half-smile as I gave an apologetic shrug of my shoulders.

"Oh," was all that I said before my mouth slowly lowered to meet hers.

The future was eternal for us because we had the option to live forever, but as our lips touched I still couldn't help to wonder which option we'd choose. I knew that Leah had continued to phase because her brother had, and now that Seth had found himself a vampire-hybrid for a girlfriend there was a chance that he might always phase. The real question was—would Leah follow? Leah's hand that had been intertwined with mine, pulled loose then and gripped the back of my shirt as we kissed. I quickly realized that the present was more important than the future, anyway. And besides, the future wasn't set-in-stone for any of us. Nope. Not even for those of us who were nearly made-of stone—like my vampire relatives. But as I pressed my lips to the soft warm lips of the she-wolf who owned my heart—I knew how I wanted my future to begin. The future was always just a millisecond away—and all technicalities be damned—I wanted to spend as many milliseconds as possible with the older woman who had unintentionally seeped her way into my heart with her bloodstream-invading-rum and her hot tempered hotness.

* * *

**A/N: The End. And, if it at all seems like it was rushed...it was. It was just time for this story to be finished. But, it has come a long way since I first started it in April 2009. Strangely enough, my very first idea for this story was to make it an "imprinting" story, but somehow the plot took a turn down "anti-imprinting" lane. Anyway, my second idea would have required more chapters than I have time to write. If you would like to see where it was headed, go here: achybreakyjakey[dot]blogspot[dot]com (There's a chapter there where Caleb goes to Denali.)**

**Anyway, thanks for reading and sticking with me during "hiatus" periods! Hope this ending wasn't too disappointing. **

**;)**

**SMOOOOOOCH!**


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